Passport

A passport is a travel document, usually issued by a country's government, that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder primarily for the purpose of international travel.[1] Standard passports may contain information such as the holder's name, place and date of birth, photograph, signature, and other identifying information. Many countries are moving towards including biometric information in a microchip embedded in the passport, making them machine-readable and difficult to counterfeit,[1] as of December 2008, 60 countries were issuing biometric passports,[2] and this number was 96 as at 5 April 2017.[citation needed] Previously issued passports usually remain valid until each expires.

A passport holder is normally entitled to enter the country that issued the passport, though some people entitled to a passport may not be full citizens with right of abode. A passport does not of itself create any rights in the country being visited or obligate the issue country in any way, such as providing consular assistance, some passports attest to status as a diplomat or other official, entitled to rights and privileges such as immunity from arrest or prosecution.[1]

Many countries normally allow entry to holders of passports of other countries, sometimes requiring a visa also to be obtained, but this is not an automatic right. Many other additional conditions, such as not being likely to become a public charge for financial or other reasons, and the holder not having been convicted of a crime, may apply.[3] Where a country does not recognise another, or is in dispute with it, it may prohibit the use of their passport for travel to that other country, or may prohibit entry to holders of that other country's passports, and sometimes to others who have, for example, visited the other country.

Some countries and international organisations issue travel documents which are not standard passports, but enable the holder to travel internationally to countries that recognise the documents, for example, stateless persons are not normally issued a national passport, but may be able to obtain a refugee travel document or the earlier "Nansen passport" which enables them to travel to countries which recognise the document, and sometimes to return to the issuing country.

One of the earliest known references to paperwork that served in a role similar to that of a passport is found in the Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah 2:7-9, dating from approximately 450 BC, states that Nehemiah, an official serving King Artaxerxes I of Persia, asked permission to travel to Judea; the king granted leave and gave him a letter "to the governors beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he traveled through their lands.

In the medieval Islamic Caliphate, a form of passport was the bara'a, a receipt for taxes paid. Only people who paid their zakah (for Muslims) or jizya (for dhimmis) taxes were permitted to travel to different regions of the Caliphate; thus, the bara'a receipt was a "traveler's basic passport."[4]

Etymological sources show that the term "passport" is from a medieval document that was required in order to pass through the gate (or "porte") of a city wall or to pass through a territory.[5][6] In medieval Europe, such documents were issued to travelers by local authorities, and generally contained a list of towns and cities the document holder was permitted to enter or pass through, on the whole, documents were not required for travel to sea ports, which were considered open trading points, but documents were required to travel inland from sea ports.[citation needed]

King Henry V of England is credited with having invented what some consider the first true passport, as a means of helping his subjects prove who they were in foreign lands, the earliest reference to these documents is found in a 1414 Act of Parliament.[7][8] In 1540, granting travel documents in England became a role of the Privy Council of England, and it was around this time that the term "passport" was used; in 1794, issuing British passports became the job of the Office of the Secretary of State.[7] The 1548 Imperial Diet of Augsburg required the public to hold imperial documents for travel, at the risk of permanent exile.[9]

A rapid expansion of railway infrastructure and wealth in Europe beginning in the mid-nineteenth century led to large increases in the volume of international travel and a consequent unique dilution of the passport system for approximately thirty years prior to World War I, the speed of trains, as well as the number of passengers that crossed multiple borders, made enforcement of passport laws difficult. The general reaction was the relaxation of passport requirements;[10] in the later part of the nineteenth century and up to World War I, passports were not required, on the whole, for travel within Europe, and crossing a border was a relatively straightforward procedure. Consequently, comparatively few people held passports.

During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills, these controls remained in place after the war, becoming a standard, though controversial, procedure. British tourists of the 1920s complained, especially about attached photographs and physical descriptions, which they considered led to a "nasty dehumanization".[11]

While the United Nations held a travel conference in 1963, no passport guidelines resulted from it. Passport standardization came about in 1980, under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO standards include those for machine-readable passports,[15] such passports have an area where some of the information otherwise written in textual form is written as strings of alphanumeric characters, printed in a manner suitable for optical character recognition. This enables border controllers and other law enforcement agents to process these passports more quickly, without having to input the information manually into a computer. ICAO publishes Doc 9303 Machine Readable Travel Documents, the technical standard for machine-readable passports.[16] A more recent standard is for biometric passports, these contain biometrics to authenticate the identity of travellers. The passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like information stored on smartcards. Like some smartcards, the passport booklet design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold digital signature data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data.

WW2 Spanish official passport issued in late 1944 and used during the last 6 months of the war by an official being sent to Berlin.

Historically, legal authority to issue passports is founded on the exercise of each country's executive discretion (or Crown prerogative). Certain legal tenets follow, namely: first, passports are issued in the name of the state; second, no person has a legal right to be issued a passport; third, each country's government, in exercising its executive discretion, has complete and unfettered discretion to refuse to issue or to revoke a passport; and fourth, that the latter discretion is not subject to judicial review. However, legal scholars including A.J. Arkelian have argued that evolutions in both the constitutional law of democratic countries and the international law applicable to all countries now render those historical tenets both obsolete and unlawful.[17][18]

Under some circumstances some countries allow people to hold more than one passport document, this may apply, for example, to people who travel a lot on business, and may need to have, say, a passport to travel on while another is awaiting a visa for another country. The UK for example may issue a second passport if the applicant can show a need and supporting documentation, such as a letter from an employer.[19][20]

Many countries issue only one passport to each national (an exception is the Family Passport, see below under "Types"). When passport holders apply for a new passport (commonly, due to expiration of an old passport or lack of blank pages), they may be required to surrender the old passport for invalidation; in some circumstances an expired passport is not required to be surrendered or invalidated (for example, if it contains an unexpired visa).

Under the law of most countries, passports are government property, and may be limited or revoked at any time, usually on specified grounds, and possibly subject to judicial review;[21] in many countries, surrender of the passport is a condition of granting bail in lieu of imprisonment for a pending criminal trial.[22]

Each country sets its own conditions for the issue of passports,[23] for example, Pakistan requires applicants to be interviewed before a Pakistani passport will be granted.[24] When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims.[25]

Some countries limit the issuance of passports, where incoming and outgoing international travels are highly regulated, such as North Korea, where general use passports are the privilege of a very small number of people trusted by the government.[citation needed] Other countries put requirements on some citizens in order to be granted passports, such as Finland, where male citizens aged 18–30 years must prove that they have completed, or are exempt from, their obligatory military service to be granted an unrestricted passport; otherwise a passport is issued valid only until the end of their 28th year, to ensure that they return to carry out military service.[26] Other countries with obligatory military service, such as Syria, have similar requirements.[27]

Passports contain a statement of the nationality of the holder; in most countries, only one class of nationality exists, and only one type of ordinary passport is issued. However, several types of exceptions exist:

The United Kingdom has a number of classes of United Kingdom nationality due to its colonial history. As a result, the UK issues various passports which are similar in appearance but representative of different nationality statuses which, in turn, has caused foreign governments to subject holders of different UK passports to different entry requirements.

In rare instances a nationality is available through investment, some investors have been described in Tongan passports as 'a Tongan protected person', a status which does not necessarily carry with it the right of abode in Tonga.[28]

One method to measure the 'value' of a passport is to calculate its 'visa-free score', which is the number of countries that allow the holder of that passport entry without requiring a visa, the top 6 groups are as follows:[33]

Germany (visa-free score: 159)

Sweden, Singapore (158)

Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States of America (157)

Left to right: diplomatic, official, and regular passport from India.
Each passport type has a different cover colour.

Passport (also called tourist passport or regular passport) – The most common form of passport, issued to citizens and other nationals. Occasionally, children are registered within the parents' passport, making it equivalent to a family passport.[citation needed]

Official passport (also called service passport) – Issued to government employees for work-related travel, and their accompanying dependants.[citation needed]

Diplomatic passport – Issued to diplomats of a country and their accompanying dependents for official international travel and residence. Accredited diplomats of certain grades may be granted diplomatic immunity by a host country, but this is not automatically conferred by holding a diplomatic passport. Any diplomatic privileges apply in the country to which the diplomat is accredited; elsewhere diplomatic passport holders must adhere to the same regulations and travel procedures as are required of other nationals of their country.[citation needed]

Emergency passport (also called temporary passport) – Issued to persons whose passports were lost or stolen, without time to obtain a replacement. Laissez-passer are also used for this purpose.[34]

British Emergency Passport

Collective passport – Issued to defined groups for travel together to particular destinations, such as a group of school children on a school trip.[35]

Family passport – Issued to an entire family. There is one passport holder, who may travel alone or with other family members included in the passport. A family member who is not the passport holder cannot use the passport for travel without the passport holder.[citation needed] Few countries now issue family passports; for example, all the EU countries and Canada require each child to have his or her own passport.[36]

Ireland allows its citizens to apply for an additional Passport Card, for travel within the EU and EFTA countries. Their Passport Card is available to all Irish citizens who are over 18 years and hold a valid Irish Passport (i.e. applicants must also possess an Irish Passport booklet).[37]

Non-citizens in Latvia and Estonia are individuals, primarily of Russian or Ukrainian ethnicity, who are not citizens of Latvia or Estonia but whose families have resided in the area since the Soviet era, and thus have the right to a non-citizen passport issued by the Latvian government as well as other specific rights. Approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians, followed by ethnic Belarusians, ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Poles and ethnic Lithuanians.[38][39]

Non-citizens in the two countries are issued special non-citizen passports[40][41][42] as opposed to regular passports issued by the Estonian and Latvian authorities to citizens, this practice has been described as xenophobic.[43]

Although all U.S. citizens are also U.S. nationals, the reverse is not true. As specified in 8 U.S.C.§ 1408, a person whose only connection to the U.S. is through birth in an outlying possession (which is defined in 8 U.S.C.§ 1101 as American Samoa and Swains Island, the latter of which is administered as part of American Samoa), or through descent from a person so born, acquires U.S. nationality but not U.S. citizenship. This was formerly the case in only four other current or former U.S. overseas possessions.[44]

The U.S. passport issued to non-citizen nationals contains the endorsement code 9 which states: "THE BEARER IS A UNITED STATES NATIONAL AND NOT A UNITED STATES CITIZEN." on the annotations page.[45]

Laissez-Passer — Issued by national governments or international organizations (such as the U.N.) as emergency passports, travel on humanitarian grounds, or for official travel.

Interpol Travel Document — Issued by Interpol to police officers for official travel, allowing them to bypass certain visa restrictions in certain member states when investigating transnational crime.

Certificate of identity (also called Alien's passport, or informally, a Travel Document) — Issued under certain circumstances, such as statelessness, to non-citizen residents. An example is the "Nansen passport" (pictured). Sometimes issued as internal passport to non-residents.

Refugee travel document — Issued to a refugee by the state in which she or he currently resides allowing them to travel outside that state and to return. Made necessary because refugees are unlikely to be able to obtain passports from their state of nationality.

For some countries, passports are required for some types of travel between their sovereign territories. Two examples of this are:

Hong Kong and Macau, both Chinese special administrative regions (SARs), have their own immigration control systems different from each other and mainland China. Travelling between the three is technically not international, so residents of the three locations do not use passports to travel between the three places, instead using other documents, such as the Mainland Travel Permit (for the people of Hong Kong and Macau). Foreigners are required to present their passports with applicable visas at the immigration control points.[citation needed]

Malaysia, where an arrangement was agreed upon during the formation of the country, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak were allowed to retain their respective immigration control systems. Therefore, a passport is required for foreigners when travelling from Peninsular Malaysia to East Malaysia, as well as traveling between Sabah and Sarawak, for social/business visits not more than 3 months, Peninsular Malaysians are required to produce a Malaysian identity card or, for children below 12 years a birth certificate, and obtain a special immigration printout form to be kept until departure.[48] However, one may present a Malaysian passport or a Restricted Travel Document and get an entry stamp on the travel document to avoid the hassle of keeping an extra sheet of paper, for other purposes, Peninsular Malaysians are required to have a long-term residence permit along with a passport or a Restricted Travel Document.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issues passport standards which are treated as recommendations to national governments. The size of passport booklets normally complies with the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-3 standard, which specifies a size of 125 × 88 mm (4.921 × 3.465 in). This size is the B7 format. Passport cards are issued to the ID-1 (credit card sized) standard.[50][51][52][53][54]

More than 5 million passports of the United Kingdom (also called the "red book") are printed each year—one every 2.5 seconds—at this secret location in the North of England[55]

A standard passport booklet format includes the cover, which contains the name of the issuing country, a national symbol, a description of the document (e.g., passport, diplomatic passport), and a biometric passport symbol, if applicable. Inside, there is a title page, also naming the country. A data page follows, containing information about the bearer and the issuing authority. There are blank pages for visas, and to stamp for entries and exit. Passports have numerical or alphanumerical designators ("serial number") assigned by the issuing authority.

Biometric passports (or e-Passports) have an embedded contactless chip in order to conform to ICAO standards. These chips contain data about the passport bearer, a photographic portrait in digital format, and data about the passport itself. Many countries now issue biometric passports, in order to speed up clearance through immigration and the prevention of identity fraud, these reasons are disputed by privacy advocates.[57][58]

Passport booklets from almost all countries around the world display the national coat of arms of the issuing country on the front cover, the United Nations keeps a record of national coats of arms.

There are several groups of countries, who through mutual agreement, have adopted common designs for the passports of their respective countries:

The European Union. The design and layout of passports of the member states of the European Union are a result of consensus and recommendation, rather than of directive.[59] Passports are issued by member states and may consist of either the usual passport booklet or the newer passport card format, the covers of ordinary passport booklets are burgundy-red (except for Croatia which has a blue cover), with "European Union" written in the national language or languages. Below that are the name of the country, the national coat of arms, the word or words for "passport", and, at the bottom, the symbol for a biometric passport, the data page can be at the front or at the back of a passport booklet and there are significant design differences throughout to indicate which member state is the issuer.[note 1] Only British and Irish passports are not obliged by EU law to contain fingerprint information in their chip.

In 2006, the members of the CA-4 Treaty (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua) adopted a common-design passport, called the Central American passport, following a design already in use by Nicaragua and El Salvador since the mid-1990s. It features a navy-blue cover with the words "América Central" and a map of Central America, and with the territory of the issuing country highlighted in gold (in place of the individual nations' coats of arms), at the bottom of the cover are the name of the issuing country and the passport type.

The members of the Andean Community of Nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) began to issue commonly designed passports in 2005. Specifications for the common passport format were outlined in an Andean Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in 2002.[60] Previously-issued national passports will be valid until their expiry dates. Andean passports are bordeaux (burgundy-red), with words in gold. Centered above the national seal of the issuing country is the name of the regional body in Spanish (Comunidad Andina). Below the seal is the official name of the member country, at the bottom of the cover is the Spanish word "pasaporte" along with the English "passport". Venezuela had issued Andean passports, but has subsequently left the Andean Community, so they will no longer issue Andean passports.

Passports often contain a message, usually near the front, requesting that the passport's bearer be allowed to pass freely, and further requesting that, in the event of need, the bearer be granted assistance, the message is sometimes made in the name of the government or the head of state, and may be written in more than one language, depending on the language policies of the issuing authority. There are countries, such as Switzerland, Finland and Austria, on whose passports such messages are absent.[citation needed]

In 1920, an international conference on passports and through tickets held by the League of Nations recommended that passports be issued in French, historically the language of diplomacy, and one other language.[61] Currently, the ICAO recommends that passports be issued in English and French, or in the national language of the issuing country and in either English or French. Many European countries use their national language, along with English and French.

Some unusual language combinations are:

Passports of European Union states bear all of the official languages of the EU. Two or three languages are printed at the relevant points, followed by reference numbers which point to the passport page where translations into the remaining languages appear; in addition to the official EU languages, British passports bear Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.

The Barbadian passport and the United States passport are tri-lingual: English, French and Spanish. United States passports were traditionally English and French, but began being printed with a Spanish message and labels during the late 1990s, in recognition of Puerto Rico's Spanish-speaking status. Only the message and labels are in multiple languages, the cover and instructions pages are printed solely in English.

In Belgium, all three official languages (Dutch, French, German) appear on the cover, in addition to English on the main page. The order of the official languages depends on the official residence of the holder.

Passports of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in the three official languages (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian), in addition to English.

Brazilian passports contain four languages: Portuguese, the official country language, Spanish, in accordance with neighboring nations, English and French.

The first page of a Libyan passport is in Arabic only. The last page (first page from western viewpoint) has an English equivalent of the information on the Arabic first page (western last page). Similar arrangements are found in passports of some other Arab countries.

For immigration control, officials of many countries use entry and exit stamps. Depending on the country, a stamp can serve different purposes, for example, in the United Kingdom, an immigration stamp in a passport includes the formal leave to enter granted to a person subject to entry control. In other countries, a stamp activates or acknowledges the continuing leave conferred in the passport bearer's entry clearance.

Under the Schengen system, a foreign passport is stamped with a date stamp which does not indicate any duration of stay, this means that the person is deemed to have permission to remain either for three months or for the period shown on his visa (whichever is shorter).

Visas often take the form of an inked stamp, although some countries use adhesive stickers that incorporate security features to discourage forgery.

Member states of the European Union are not permitted to place a stamp in the passport of a person who is not subject to immigration control. Stamping is prohibited because it is an imposition of a control that the person is not subject to.

Countries usually have different styles of stamps for entries and exits, to make it easier to identify the movements of people. Other ways to easily determine information. Ink color might be used to designate mode of transportation (air, land or sea), such as in Hong Kong prior to 1997; while border styles did the same thing in Macau. Other variations include changing the size of the stamp to indicate length of stay, as in Singapore.

Immigration stamps are a useful reminder of travels, some travellers "collect" immigration stamps in passports, and will choose to enter or exit countries via different means (for example, land, sea or air) in order to have different stamps in their passports. Some countries, such as Liechtenstein,[62] that do not stamp passports may provide a passport stamp on request for such "memory" purposes. However, such memorial stamps can preclude the passport bearer from travelling to certain countries, for example, Finland consistently rejects what they call 'falsified passports', where travelers have been refused visas or entry due to memorial stamps and are required to renew their passports.

A passport is merely an identity document that is widely recognised for international travel purposes, and the possession of a passport does not in itself entitle a traveller to enter any country other than the country that issued it, and sometimes not even then. Many countries normally require visitors to obtain a visa, each country has different requirements or conditions for the grant of visas, such as for the visitor not being likely to become a public charge for financial, health, family, or other reasons, and the holder not having been convicted of a crime or considered likely to commit one.[3][63]

Where a country does not recognise another, or is in dispute with it, entry may be prohibited to holders of passports of the other party to the dispute, and sometimes to others who have, for example, visited the other country; examples are listed below. A country that issues a passport may also restrict its validity or use in specified circumstances, such as use for travel to certain countries for political, security or health reasons.

Mainland China and Taiwan — Nationals of Taiwan (ROC) use a special travel permit (Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents) issued by China's (PRC) Ministry of Public Security to enter mainland China. Nationals of Mainland China entering Taiwan must also use a special travel permit (Exit & Entry Permit) issued by the ROC's immigration department. Depending on where they're traveling from, they also need either a Chinese passport when departing from outside Mainland China, or a passport-like travel document, known as Taiwan Travel Permit for Mainland Residents, when departing from Mainland China (along with a special visa-like exit endorsement issued by PRC immigration authorities affixed to the permit). Chinese nationals who are Hong Kong and Macau permanent residents can apply for the ROC Exit and Entry Permit online or on arrival and must travel with their HKSAR passport, MSAR passport or BN(O) passport.

Countries that reject passports from Israel and any other passports which contain Israeli stamps or visas

Until 1952, Israeli passports were normally not valid for travel to Germany, as in the aftermath of the Holocaust it was considered improper for Israelis to visit Germany on any but official state business. Some Muslim and African countries do not permit entry to anyone using an Israeli passport; in addition, Iran,[65] Kuwait,[66] Lebanon,[67] Libya,[68] Saudi Arabia,[69] Sudan,[70] Syria[71] and Yemen[72] do not allow entry to people with evidence of travel to Israel, or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, for this reason, Israel no longer issues visa stamps directly on passports, but on a slip of paper that serves as a substitute for a stamp on a travel document.[citation needed] Some countries do not permit their passports to be used for travel to Israel.

Philippines — between 2004 and mid-2011, Philippine passports could not be used for travel to Iraq due to the security threats in that country.[73]

South Korea — the South Korean government has banned travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen for safety reasons.[74] South Korea does not consider travel within the Korean peninsula (between South Korean and North Korean administrations) to be international travel, as South Korea's constitution regards the entire Korean peninsula as its territory. South Koreans traveling to the Kaesong Industrial Region in North Korea pass through the Gyeongui Highway Transit Office at Dorasan, Munsan, where they present a plastic Visit Certificate (방문증명서) card issued by the South Korean Ministry of Unification, and an immigration-stamped Passage Certificate (개성공업지구 출입증) issued by the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (개성공업지구 관리위원회).[75] Until 2008, South Koreans traveling to tourist areas in the North such as Mount Kumgang needed to carry a South Korean ID card for security reasons.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) issues passports, but only Turkey recognises its statehood. TRNC passports are not accepted for entry into the Republic of Cyprus via airports or sea ports, but are accepted at the designated green line crossing points. However, all Turkish Cypriots are entitled by law to the issue of a Republic of Cyprus EU passport, and since the opening of the border between the two sides, Cypriot and EU citizens can travel freely between them, the United Kingdom, United States, France, Australia, Pakistan and Syria currently officially accept TRNC passports with the relevant visas.

Spain does not accept United Kingdom passports issued in Gibraltar, alleging that the Government of Gibraltar is not a competent authority for issuing UK passports. The word "Gibraltar" now appears beneath the words "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" on the covers of British passports issued in Gibraltar.

Some countries do not accept Tongan Protected Person passports, though they accept Tongan citizen passports.[76] Tongan Protected Person passports are sold by the Government of Tonga to anyone who is not a Tongan national.[77] A holder of a Tongan Protected Person passport is forbidden to enter or settle in Tonga. Generally, those holders are refugees or stateless persons for some other reason.

For countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Brazil, such as Kosovo, Taiwan and Western Sahara, diplomatic, official and work passports are not accepted, and visas are only granted to tourist or business visitors. In addition, except for Kosovo and Taiwan, these visas must be issued on a Brazilian “laissez-passer”, not on the country's passport.[78]

International travel is possible without passports in some circumstances.[79] Nonetheless, a document stating citizenship, such as a national identity card or an Enhanced Drivers License, is usually required.[79]

Members of the East African Community (composed of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) may issue an East African passport. East African passports are recognised by only the five members, and are only used for travel between or among those countries, the requirements for eligibility are less rigorous than are the requirements for national passports used for other international travel.

Passports are not needed by citizens of India and Nepal to travel to each other's country, but some identification is required for border crossings. Additionally, Indians can travel in Bhutan without a passport, while Bhutanese must travel with their citizenship identity cards.

Lebanon and Syria citizens do not require passports when traveling in either country if they are carrying ID cards.

Travel between Russia and some former Soviet republics, designated by membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States, may be accomplished with a national identity document (e.g. an internal passport) or passport. However, according to a statement made by President Putin in December 2012, Russia has plans to restrict travel without a passport only to citizens of the member states of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia by 2015. After that date, citizens of other CIS states will need passports (although not visas) to visit Russia.[80]

Citizens of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf countries need only national ID cards (also referred to as civil ID cards) to cross the borders of council countries. This also applies to anyone that has a residence permit in any of the GCC countries.

The countries that apply the Schengen Agreement (Schengen Area, a subset of the EEA) do not implement passport controls between each other, unless exceptional circumstances occur. It is, however, mandatory to carry a passport, compliant national identity card or alien's resident permit.

A citizen of one of the 28 member states of the European Union or of Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Iceland and Switzerland may travel in and between these countries using a standard compliant National Identity Card rather than a passport. Not all EU/EEA member states issue standard compliant National Identity Cards, notably Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The Nordic Passport Union allows Nordic citizens—citizens from Denmark (including the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to visit any of these countries without being in possession of identity documents (Greenland and Svalbard are excluded). This is an extension of the principle that Nordic citizens need no identity document in their own country. A means to prove identity when requested is recommended (e.g. using a driver's license, which does not state citizenship), even in one's own country. Joining the Schengen Area in 1997 has not changed these rules.

Albania accepts national ID cards or passports for entry from nationals of the EU, EFTA, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia, San Marino and Singapore.

Bosnia and Herzegovina accepts national ID cards or passports for entry from citizens of the EU, EFTA, Montenegro, Monaco, San Marino and Serbia.

The Republic of Macedonia accepts national ID cards or passports for entry from nationals of the EU, EFTA, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.

Montenegro accepts national ID cards or passports for entry from nationals of the EU, EFTA, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Monaco, the Republic of Macedonia, San Marino and Serbia.

Serbia accepts national ID cards or passports for entry from nationals of the EU, EFTA (except Liechtenstein), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia.

CARICOM countries issue a CARICOM passport to their citizens, and as of June 2009, eligible nationals in participating countries will be permitted to use the CARICOM travel card which provides for intra-community travel without a passport.

There are several cards available to certain North American residents which allow passport free travel; generally only for land and sea border crossings:

The U.S. Passport card is an alternative to an ordinary U.S. passport booklet for land and sea travel within North America (Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda). Like the passport book, the passport card is issued only to U.S. citizens and non-citizen nationals.[81]

The NEXUS card allows border crossing between the U.S. and Canada for U.S. nationals and Canadian citizens. It can also be used for air travel as the only means of identification for U.S. nationals and Canadian citizens. The card can also be used for entering the U.S. from Mexico but not vice versa.[81]

The SENTRI card allows passport-free entry into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada (but not vice versa) for U.S. citizens and nationals as well as Canadian citizens.[81]

The FAST card can be used for crossing between U.S. and Canada, as well as entering U.S. from Mexico for U.S. and Canadian citizens.[81]

Canadian citizens may enter the U.S. and Canada via land or sea using an "Enhanced" WHTI-compliant driver's license. These are currently issued by British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario. If Canadians wish to enter the U.S. via air, they must use a passport book or a Nexus card.[81]

Canadian citizens may return to Canada using any proof of citizenship and identity, however those without an acceptable document will be questioned by a Border Services officer until their identity is established.[82]

For travel to the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon directly from Canada, Canadians and foreign nationals holding Canadian identification documents are exempted from passport and visa requirements for stays of maximum duration of 3 months within a period of 6 months. Accepted documents include a driver's licence, citizenship card, permanent resident card and others, those without Canadian identifications are not exempt and must carry a passport.

Residents of nine coastal villages in Papua New Guinea are permitted to enter the 'Protected Zone' of the Torres Strait (part of Queensland, Australia) for traditional purposes. This exemption from passport control is part of a treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea negotiated when PNG became independent from Australia in 1975.[83] Vessels from other parts of Papua New Guinea and other countries attempting to cross into Australia or Australian waters are stopped by Australian Customs or the Royal Australian Navy.

Many Central American and South American nationals can travel within their respective regional economic zones, such as Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, or on a bilateral basis (e.g., between Chile and Peru, between Brazil and Chile), without passports, presenting instead their national ID cards, or, for short stays, their voter-registration cards. In some cases this travel must be done overland rather than by air. There are plans to extend these rights to all of South America under a Union of South American Nations, and it already extends them (since 2006[84]) to every South American country except Guyana and Suriname.

^All nations issuing EU passports make an effort to ensure that their passports feature nationally distinctive designs. Finnish passports make a flip-book of a moose walking, the UK passport launched on 3 November 2015 features Shakespeare's Globe Theater on pages 26-27, with architectural plans as well as performers on stage. Each UK passport page is completely different from all the other pages and from all the other pages of other EU passports.

^George William Lemon (1783). English etymology; or, A derivative dictionary of the English language. p. 397. said that passport may signify either a permission to pass through a portus or gate, but noted that an earlier work had contained information that a traveling warrant, a permission or license to pass through the whole dominions of any prince, was originally called a pass par teut.

^Arkelian, A.J. "The Right to a Passport in Canadian Law."“The Canadian Yearbook of International Law," Volume XXI, 1983. Republished in November 2012 in Artsforum Magazine at http://artsforum.ca/ideas/in-depth

^Arkelian, A.J. “Freedom of Movement of Persons Between States and Entitlement to Passports.”Saskatchewan Law Review, Volume 49, No.1, 1984-85.

^In the Panama Canal Zone only those persons born there prior to January 1, 2000 with at least one parent as a U.S. citizen were recognized as U.S. citizens and were both nationals and citizens. Also in the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands the residents were considered nationals and citizens of the Trust Territory and not U.S. nationals.

^"Doc 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents,"(PDF). Seventh Edition, 2015. 999 Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 5H7: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015. ICAO’s work on machine readable travel documents began in 1968 with the establishment, by the Air Transport Committee of the Council, of a Panel on Passport Cards. This Panel was charged with developing recommendations for a standardized passport book or card that would be machine readable, in the interest of accelerating the clearance of passengers through passport controls. ... In 1998, the New Technologies Working Group of the TAG/MRTD began work to establish the most effective biometric identification system and associated means of data storage for use in MRTD applications, particularly in relation to document issuance and immigration considerations, the bulk of the work had been completed by the time the events of 11 September 2001 caused States to attach greater importance to the security of a travel document and the identification of its holder. The work was quickly finalized and endorsed by the TAG/MRTD and the Air Transport Committee. ... The Seventh Edition of Doc 9303 represents a restructuring of the ICAO specifications for Machine Readable Travel Documents. Without incorporating substantial modifications to the specifications, in this new edition Doc 9303 has been reformatted into a set of specifications for Size 1 Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (TD1), Size 2 Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (TD2), and Size 3 Machine Readable Travel Documents (TD3) ...

^"Doc 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 2: Specifications for the Security of the Design, Manufacture and Issuance of MRTDs"(PDF). Seventh Edition, 2015. 999 Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 5H7: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). 2015. ISBN978-92-9249-791-0. Retrieved 22 November 2015. The Seventh Edition of Doc 9303 represents a restructuring of the ICAO specifications for Machine Readable Travel Documents. Without incorporating substantial modifications to the specifications, in this new edition Doc 9303 has been reformatted into a set of specifications for Size 1 Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (TD1), Size 2 Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (TD2), and Size 3 Machine Readable Travel Documents (TD3), as well as visas, this set of specifications consists of various separate documents in which general (applicable to all MRTDs) as well as MRTD form factor specific specifications are grouped ... Where the substrate used for the biographical data page (or inserted label) of a passport book or MRTD card is formed entirely of plastic or a variation of plastic, it is not usually possible to incorporate many of the security components described in 5.1.1 through 5.1.3 ... A.5.2.5 Special security measures for use with cards and biographical data pages made of plastic' Where a travel document is constructed entirely of plastic, optically variable security features shall be employed which give a changing appearance with angle of viewing. Such devices may take the form of latent images, lenticular features, colour-shifting ink, or diffractive optically variable image features.

^"Doc 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 5: Specifications for TD1 Size Machine Readable Official Travel Documents (MROTDs)"(PDF). Seventh Edition, 2015. 999 Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 5H7: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). 2015. ISBN978-92-9249-794-1. Retrieved 22 November 2015. The nominal dimensions shall be those specified in ISO/IEC 7810 for the ID-1 type card: 53.98 mm x 85.6 mm (2.13 in x 3.37 in) ... The edges of the document after final preparation shall be within the area circumscribed by the concentric rectangles as illustrated in Figure 1. Inner rectangle: 53.25 mm x 84.85 mm (2.10 in x 3.34 in), Outer rectangle: 54.75 mm x 86.35 mm (2.16 in x 3.40 in). In no event shall the dimensions of the finished TD1 document exceed the dimensions of the outer rectangle, including any final preparation (e.g. laminate edges) ... Note k: The first character shall be A, C or I. Historically these three characters were chosen for their ease of recognition in the OCR-B character set, the second character shall be at the discretion of the issuing State or organization except that V shall not be used, and C shall not be used after A except in the Crew Member Certificate.

^"U.S. Passport Service Guide - Passport Card Facts". 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015. A passport card serves the same purpose as a passport book. It attests to your United States citizenship and your identity, the passport card is a fully valid passport. However, it is similar in size to a credit card ... Production of the passport card began on July 14, 2008. Millions of cards have already been issued since that date.

Torpey, John C. (2000). The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship and the State. Cambridge studies in law and society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-63249-8. OCLC59408523.

1 B) The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are not part of the European Union, but Manxmen and Channel Islanders are citizens of the European Union; the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, and Manxmen and Channel Islanders themselves (unless they qualify and apply for recognition of a change in status), are however excluded from the benefits of the Four Freedoms of the European Union.

1 C) The Government of the United Kingdom also issue passports to British nationals who are not British citizens with the right of abode in the United Kingdom and who are also not otherwise citizens of the European Union.

3 Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, the vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here.

4 Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Turkey has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace.

3 Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, the vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here.

4 Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace.

1.
Travel document
–
The most common travel document is a passport, which usually gives the bearer more privileges like visa-free access to certain countries. However, the term is used only for those documents which do not bear proof of nationality. In general, a passport is a document that also serves as proof of nationality from the issuing country. Although generally accepted by the majority of countries in the world, approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians, followed by ethnic Belarussians, ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Poles and ethnic Lithuanians. Non-citizens in the two countries are issued special non-citizen passports as opposed to regular passports issued by the Estonian and Latvian authorities to citizens and this form of legal discrimination is often labelled as xenophobic. Although all U. S. citizens are also U. S. nationals, the reverse is not true. §1408, a person whose only connection to the U. S. is through birth in a possession, or through descent from a person so born, acquires U. S. nationality. This was formerly the case in only four current or former U. S. overseas possessions. The U. S. passport issued to non-citizen nationals contains the endorsement code 9 which states, non-citizen U. S. nationals may reside and work in the United States without restrictions, and may apply for citizenship under the same rules as resident aliens. A laissez-passer is often for travel to the issuing country for humanitarian reasons only such as Restoring Family Links. Some national governments issue laissez-passers to their own nationals as emergency passports, others issue them to people who are stateless, or who are unable to obtain a passport from their own government, or whose government is not recognized by the issuing country. One such example is the Peoples Republic of China, which issues the non-passport Chinese Travel Document to its nationals under certain circumstances, one such circumstance stems from a reported loss of passport while traveling or living abroad. China issues a temporary two-year validity Travel Document in lieu of a passport to allow said citizen to complete their travels, under other circumstances such as a Chinese citizen studying or working abroad, the Chinese embassies or consulates will issue passports if requested. This Travel Document is a blue-covered passport-sized booklet clearly denoted TRAVEL DOCUMENT as opposed to the usual red-covered passport, in these contexts, a laissez-passer would frequently include quite specific and limited freedom of movement. The form and issuing authority would be more or less standardized, the travel document that was issued was the laissez-passer, since an Iraqi passport was no longer possible. Laissez-passer documents may also be issued to goods or other non-living objects to facilitate their transport across international borders, in 2008, the United States Department of Homeland Security denied entry to an Ethiopian asylum seeker carrying a laissez-passer on the basis of a Wikipedia entry describing the document. People who immigrate to Israel are generally not eligible for an Israeli passport until they have resided in Israel for at least 75% of their first year of citizenship, such citizens are issued a travel document in lieu of national passport in their first year of citizenship. The United Nations and the International Labour Organization issue laissez-passers to officials and members of the UN, the laissez-passer is also issued to their families for official use

2.
Government
–
A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. In the case of this broad definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. Forms of government, or forms of governance, refers to the set of political systems. Governments control the economy, social freedoms, and political systems and this usage is analogous to what is called an administration in American English. Finally, government is sometimes used in English as a synonym for governance. In addition to the political meanings, in grammar and theoretical linguistics

3.
Nationality
–
Nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a state. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state, what these rights and duties are vary from state to state. By custom and international conventions, it is the right of state to determine who its nationals are. Such determinations are part of nationality law, in some cases, determinations of nationality are also governed by public international law—for example, by treaties on statelessness and the European Convention on Nationality. Nationality differs technically and legally from citizenship, which is a different legal relationship between a person and a country, the noun national can include both citizens and non-citizens. The most common distinguishing feature of citizenship is that citizens have the right to participate in the life of the state. However, in most modern countries all nationals are citizens of the state, in English and some other languages, the word nationality is sometimes used to refer to an ethnic group. This meaning of nationality is not defined by political borders or passport ownership, individuals may also be considered nationals of groups with autonomous status which have ceded some power to a larger government. In international law, nationality is the status or relationship that gives a nation the right to protect a person from other nations, diplomatic and consular protection are dependent upon this relationship between the person and the state. A persons status as being the national of a country is used to resolve the conflict of laws, Nationality is also the status that allows a nation to grant rights to the subject and to impose obligations upon the subject. In most cases, no rights or obligations are automatically attached to this status, although the status is a precondition for any rights. Within the broad limits imposed by few treaties and international law, however, since the Nottebohm case, other states are only required to respect their claim to protect an alleged national if the nationality is based on a true social bond. In the case of dual nationality, states may determine the most effective nationality for a person, there are also limits on removing a persons status as a national. Nationals normally have the right to enter or return to the country belong to. Passports are issued to nationals of a state, rather only to citizens. However, nationals may not have the right of abode in the countries that grant them passports, Nationality is legally a distinct concept from citizenship. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on the political life of the state. In the modern era, the concept of full citizenship encompasses not only political rights

4.
Microchip
–
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece of semiconductor material, normally silicon. The ICs mass production capability, reliability and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size. These advances, roughly following Moores law, allow a computer chip of 2016 to have millions of times the capacity, ICs have two main advantages over discrete circuits, cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit by photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time, furthermore, packaged ICs use much less material than discrete circuits. Performance is high because the ICs components switch quickly and consume little power because of their small size, the main disadvantage of ICs is the high cost to design them and fabricate the required photomasks. This high initial cost means ICs are only practical when high production volumes are anticipated, Circuits meeting this definition can be constructed using many different technologies, including thin-film transistor, thick film technology, or hybrid integrated circuit. However, in general usage integrated circuit has come to refer to the single-piece circuit construction originally known as a integrated circuit. Jacobi disclosed small and cheap hearing aids as typical industrial applications of his patent, an immediate commercial use of his patent has not been reported. The idea of the circuit was conceived by Geoffrey Dummer. Dummer presented the idea to the public at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components in Washington and he gave many symposia publicly to propagate his ideas, and unsuccessfully attempted to build such a circuit in 1956. A precursor idea to the IC was to create small ceramic squares, Components could then be integrated and wired into a bidimensional or tridimensional compact grid. This idea, which seemed very promising in 1957, was proposed to the US Army by Jack Kilby, however, as the project was gaining momentum, Kilby came up with a new, revolutionary design, the IC. In his patent application of 6 February 1959, Kilby described his new device as a body of semiconductor material … wherein all the components of the circuit are completely integrated. The first customer for the new invention was the US Air Force, Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit. His work was named an IEEE Milestone in 2009, half a year after Kilby, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor developed his own idea of an integrated circuit that solved many practical problems Kilbys had not. Noyces design was made of silicon, whereas Kilbys chip was made of germanium, Noyce credited Kurt Lehovec of Sprague Electric for the principle of p–n junction isolation, a key concept behind the IC

Microchip
–
Erasable programmable read-only memory integrated circuits. These packages have a transparent window that shows the die inside. The window allows the memory to be erased by exposing the chip to ultraviolet light.
Microchip
–
Integrated circuit from an EPROM memory microchip showing the memory blocks, the supporting circuitry and the fine silver wires which connect the integrated circuit die to the legs of the packaging.
Microchip
–
Jack Kilby 's original integrated circuit
Microchip
–
The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip

5.
Counterfeit
–
To counterfeit means to imitate something. Counterfeit products are fakes or unauthorised replicas of the real product, counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product. Counterfeit products tend to have company logos and brands, have a reputation for being lower quality. This has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, due to automobile and aviation accidents, poisoning, the counterfeiting of money is usually attacked aggressively by governments worldwide. Paper money is the most popular product counterfeited, counterfeit money is currency that is produced without the legal sanction of the state or government and in deliberate violation of that countrys laws. The United States Secret Service, mostly known for its guarding-of-officials task, was organized primarily to combat the counterfeiting of American money. Forgery is the process of making or adapting documents with the intention to deceive and it is a form of fraud, and is often a key technique in the execution of identity theft. Uttering and publishing is a term in United States law for the forgery of documents, such as a trucking companys time. Questioned document examination is a process for investigating many aspects of various documents. Security printing is a printing industry specialty, focused on creating legal documents which are difficult to forge, the spread of counterfeit goods has become global in recent years and the range of goods subject to infringement has increased significantly. Apparel and accessories accounted for over 50 percent of the goods seized by U. S Customs. A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicates that up to US$200 Billion of international trade could have been in counterfeit and illegally copied goods in 2005. In November 2009, the OECD updated these estimates, concluding that the share of counterfeit and that represents an increase to US$250 billion worldwide. In a detailed breakdown of the counterfeit goods industry, the total loss faced by countries around the world is $600 billion, when calculating counterfeit products, current estimates place the global losses at $400 billion. Some see the rise in counterfeiting of goods as being related to globalisation and these new managers of production have little or no loyalty to the original corporation. They see that profits are being made by the brand for doing little and see the possibilities of removing the middle men. Certain consumer goods, especially expensive or desirable brands or those that are easy to reproduce cheaply, have become frequent. The counterfeiters either attempt to deceive the consumer into thinking they are purchasing a legitimate item, or convince the consumer that they could deceive others with the imitation

6.
Biometric passport
–
It uses contactless smart card technology, including a microprocessor chip and antenna embedded in the front or back cover, or center page, of the passport. The currently standardized biometrics used for type of identification system are facial recognition, fingerprint recognition. These were adopted after assessment of different kinds of biometrics including retinal scan. The ICAO defines the biometric file formats and communication protocols to be used in passports, only the digital image of each biometric feature is actually stored in the chip. The comparison of biometric features is performed outside the chip by electronic border control systems. These standards intend interoperability between different countries and different manufacturers of passport books, some national identity cards are fully ICAO9303 compliant biometric travel documents. However others, such as the United States Passport Card, are not, Biometric passports are equipped with protection mechanisms to avoid and/or detect attacks, Non-traceable chip characteristics. Random chip identifiers reply to each request with a different chip number and this prevents tracing of passport chips. Using random identification numbers is optional, BAC protects the communication channel between the chip and the reader by encrypting transmitted information. Before data can be read from a chip, the needs to provide a key which is derived from the Machine Readable Zone, the date of birth, the date of expiry. If BAC is used, an attacker cannot eavesdrop transferred information without knowing the correct key, PA is aimed at identifying modification of passport chip data. The chip contains a file that stores hash values of all files stored in the chip, the digital signature is made using a document signing key which itself is signed by a country signing key. If a file in the chip is changed, this can be detected since the value is incorrect. Readers need access to all used public country keys to check whether the signature is generated by a trusted country. As of January 2017,55 of over 60 e-passport-issuing countries belong to the PKD program, AA prevents cloning of passport chips. The chip contains a key that cannot be read or copied. EAC adds functionality to check the authenticity of both the chip and the reader, furthermore, it uses stronger encryption than BAC. EAC is typically used to protect fingerprints and iris scans, in the European Union, using EAC is mandatory for all documents issued starting 28 June 2009

Biometric passport
–
This symbol for biometrics is usually printed on the cover of such passports.

7.
Diplomatic immunity
–
Many principles of diplomatic immunity are now considered to be customary law. Diplomatic immunity as an institution developed to allow for the maintenance of government relations, including during periods of difficulties, an international agreement known as the Vienna Conventions codified the rules and agreements, providing standards and privileges to all states. However, many refuse to waive immunity as a matter of course. Alternatively, the country may prosecute the individual. If immunity is waived by a government so that a diplomat can be prosecuted, it must be there is a case to answer. For instance, in 2002, a Colombian diplomat in London was prosecuted for manslaughter, the concept of diplomatic immunity can be found in ancient Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, where messengers and diplomats were given immunity from capital punishment. During the evolution of justice, many wars were considered rebellions or unlawful by one or more combatant sides. In such cases, the servants of the sovereign were often considered accomplices. In other circumstances, harbingers of inconsiderable demands were killed as a declaration of war, however, even for Herodotus, this maltreatment of envoys is a crime, and he immediately recounts a story of divine vengeance befalling Sparta for this deed. A Roman envoy was urinated on as he was leaving the city of Tarentum, the oath of the envoy, This stain will be washed away with blood. Was fulfilled during the Second Punic War, the arrest and ill-treatment of the envoy of Raja Raja Chola by the king of Kulasekhara dynasty, which is now part of modern India, led to the naval Kandalur War in AD994. Pope Gelasius I was the first pope recorded as enjoying diplomatic immunity, genghis Khan and the Mongols were well known for strongly insisting on the rights of diplomats, and they would often take terrifying vengeance against any state that violated these rights. The Mongols would often raze entire cities in retaliation for the execution of their ambassadors, modern diplomatic immunity evolved parallel to the development of modern diplomacy. In the 17th century, European diplomats realized that protection from prosecution was essential to doing their jobs, and these were still confined to Western Europe and were closely tied to the prerogatives of nobility. Thus, an emissary to the Ottoman Empire could expect to be arrested and imprisoned upon the outbreak of hostilities between his state and the empire, the French Revolution also disrupted this system, as the revolutionary state and Napoleon imprisoned numerous diplomats who were accused of working against France. More recently, the Iran hostage crisis is considered a violation of diplomatic immunity. Although the hostage takers did not officially represent the state, host countries are obligated to protect diplomatic property, on the other hand, during World War II, diplomatic immunity was upheld and the embassies of the belligerents were evacuated through neutral countries. For the upper class of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the first embassies were not permanent establishments but actual visits by high-ranking representatives, often close relatives, of the sovereign or the sovereign in person

8.
Visa (document)
–
A visa is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter and temporarily remain within, or to leave that country. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter. In each instance, a visa is subject to permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry. A visa is most commonly a sticker endorsed in the applicants passport or other travel document, some countries do not require visas for short visits. Some countries require that their citizens, as well as foreign travelers, uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty. Some countries – such as those in the Schengen Area – have agreements with other countries allowing each others citizens to travel between them without visas, the World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015. Some countries do not require a visa in some situations, such as a result of reciprocal treaty arrangements, the possession of a visa is not in itself a guarantee of entry into the country that issued it, and a visa can be revoked at any time. A visitor may also be required to undergo and pass security or health checks upon arrival at the border, in Western Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, passports and visas were not generally necessary for moving from one country to another. The relatively high speed and large movements of people traveling by train would have caused bottlenecks if regular passport controls had been used, passports and visas became usually necessary travel documents only since World War I. Long before that, in ancient times, passports and visas were usually the type of travel documents. In the modern world, visas have become separate secondary travel documents and these agencies are authorized by the foreign authority, embassy, or consulate to represent international travelers who are unable or unwilling to travel to the embassy and apply in person. Private visa and passport services collect a fee for verifying customer applications, supporting documents. If there is no embassy or consulate in ones home country, alternatively, in such cases visas may be pre-arranged for pickup on arrival at the border. The issuing authority, usually a branch of the foreign ministry or department. Some countries ask for proof of status, especially for long-term visas, some countries deny such visas to persons with certain illnesses. The exact conditions depend on the country and category of visa, notable examples of countries requiring HIV tests of long-term residents are Russia and Uzbekistan. However, in Uzbekistan, the HIV test requirement is not strictly enforced. Other countries require a medical test which includes an HIV test even for short term tourism visa, for instance Cuban citizens and international exchange students require such a test approved by a medical authority to enter Chilean territory

Visa (document)
–
A United States visa. Issued by the Consulate General of the United States of America in Milan, Italy. (2014)
Visa (document)
–
Exit USSR visa of type 1 (for temporary visits outside the Soviet Union). Not to be confused with exit visa of type 2 (green), which was stamped to those who received the permission to exit the USSR forever and lost Soviet citizenship.
Visa (document)
–
Exit USSR visa of type 2. For those who received permission to leave the USSR forever and lost Soviet citizenship.
Visa (document)
–
Russian empire visa stamp (1917).

9.
Statelessness
–
In international law, statelessness is the lack of citizenship. A stateless person is someone who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law, some stateless persons are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many persons who are stateless have never crossed an international border. Most people belonging to a nation, despite lacking their own nation state, nonetheless hold citizenship in one or more countries. Conflicting nationality laws are one of causes of statelessness. Nationality is usually acquired through one of two modes, Jus soli denotes a regime by which nationality is acquired through birth on the territory of the state and this is common in the Americas. Jus sanguinis is a regime by which nationality is acquired through descent, today, many nations apply a combination of the two systems. Although many states allow the acquisition of nationality through parental descent irrespective of where the child is born, there are 27 countries in the world that do not grant equal rights to women in passing on their nationality. This can result in statelessness when the father is stateless, unknown, there have, however, been recent changes in favor of gender neutrality in nationality laws, including successful reform processes in Algeria, Morocco, and Senegal that may inform change elsewhere. Moreover, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women prohibits sex-based discrimination in the conferral of nationality, an important measure to prevent statelessness at birth provides nationality to children born in a territory who would otherwise be stateless. In most large-scale statelessness situations, statelessness is a result of discrimination, many states define their body of citizens based on ethnicity, leading to the exclusion of large groups. This violates international laws against discrimination, in some cases, statelessness is a consequence of state succession. Some people become stateless when their state of nationality ceases to exist and this was the case when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and also in the cases of Yugoslavia and Ethiopia. People may also become stateless as a result of administrative and practical problems, individuals might be entitled to citizenship but unable to undertake the necessary procedural steps. In disruptive conflict or post-conflict situations, many find that difficulties in completing simple administrative procedures are exacerbated. Such obstacles may affect the ability of individuals to complete such as birth registration. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimated in 2013 that 230 million children under the age of 5 have not been registered, not holding proof of nationality—being undocumented—is not the same as being stateless, but the lack of identity documents such as a birth certificate can lead to statelessness. Many millions of people live their lives without documents, without their nationality ever being questioned

10.
Nansen passport
–
Nansen passports were internationally recognized refugee travel documents, first issued by the League of Nations to stateless refugees. By 1942, they were honoured by governments in 52 countries, approximately 450,000 Nansen passports were provided to stateless people and refugees who needed travel documents but could not obtain one from a national authority. The Nansen passport was originally provided to refugees from the Russian civil war and it is estimated that about 800,000 Russian refugees had become stateless when Lenin revoked citizenship for all Russian expatriates in 1921. In 1933, the arrangement was broadened to also include Armenian, Assyrian, following Nansens death in 1930, the passport was handled by the Nansen International Office for Refugees within the League of Nations. At that point the passport no longer included a reference to the 1922 conference, the office was closed in 1938, passports were thereafter issued by a new agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in London. The Nansen International Office for Refugees was awarded the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to establish the Nansen passports, robert Capa Marc Chagall Alexander Galich Alexander Grothendieck G. I

11.
Qing dynasty
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It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water

Qing dynasty
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History of China
Qing dynasty
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Flag (1889–1912)
Qing dynasty
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An Italian map showing the "Kingdom of the Nüzhen " or the " Jin Tartars", who "have occupied and are at present ruling China", north of Liaodong and Korea, published in 1682
Qing dynasty
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Qing era brush container

12.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe

13.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation

Russian Empire
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Peter the Great officially renamed the Tsardom of Russia the Russian Empire in 1721, and himself its first emperor. He instituted the sweeping reforms and oversaw the transformation of Russia into a major European power.
Russian Empire
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Flag
Russian Empire
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Empress Catherine the Great, who reigned from 1762 to 1796, continued the empire's expansion and modernization. Considering herself an enlightened absolutist, she played a key role in the Russian Enlightenment.
Russian Empire
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Catherine II Sestroretsk Rouble (1771) is made of solid copper measuring 77 millimetres (3 3 ⁄ 100 in) (diameter), 26 millimetres (1 1 ⁄ 50 in) (thickness), and weighs 1.022 kg (2.25 lb). It is the largest copper coin ever issued.

14.
Judea
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Judea or Judæa is the ancient Hebrew and Israelite biblical, the exonymic Roman/English, and the modern-day name of the mountainous southern part of Canaan-Israel. As a consequence of the Bar Kokhba revolt, in 135 CE the region was renamed and merged with Roman Syria to form Syria Palaestina by the victorious Roman Emperor Hadrian, a large part of Judea was included in Jordanian West Bank between 1948 and 1967. The name Judea is a Greek and Roman adaptation of the name Judah, nimrud Tablet K.3751, dated c.733 BCE, is the earliest known record of the name Judah. Judea was sometimes used as the name for the entire region, in 200 CE Sextus Julius Africanus, cited by Eusebius, described Nazara as a village in Judea. Judea was the used by English-speakers until the Jordanian occupation of the area in 1948. Jordan called the area ad-difa’a al-gharbiya, yehuda is the Hebrew term used for the area in modern Israel since the region was captured and occupied by Israel in 1967. The classical Roman-Jewish historian Josephus wrote, In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village Anuath and this is the northern boundary of Judea. The southern parts of Judea, if they be measured lengthways, are bounded by a village adjoining to the confines of Arabia, however, its breadth is extended from the river Jordan to Joppa. The city Jerusalem is situated in the middle, on which account some have, with sagacity enough. This country begins at Mount Libanus, and the fountains of Jordan, and reaches breadthways to the lake of Tiberias and its inhabitants are a mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all possible brevity, described the country of Judea, Judea is a mountainous region, part of which is considered a desert. It varies greatly in height, rising to an altitude of 1,020 m in the south at Mount Hebron,30 km southwest of Jerusalem, and descending to as much as 400 m below sea level in the east of the region. The climate, accordingly, moves between Mediterranean in the west and desert climate in the east, with a strip of steppe climate in the middle, major urban areas in the region include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gush Etzion, Jericho and Hebron. Geographers divide Judea into several regions, the Hebron hills, the Jerusalem saddle, the Bethel hills and the Judean desert east of Jerusalem, the hills are distinct for their anticline structure. In ancient times the hills were forested, and the Bible records agriculture, animals are still grazed today, with shepherds moving them between the low ground to the hilltops as summer approaches, while the slopes are still layered with centuries-old stone terracing. The Jewish Revolt against the Romans ended in the devastation of vast areas of the Judaean countryside, regardless, the Northern Kingdom was conquered into the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720 BCE. Judea is central to much of the narrative of the Torah, with the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, the Babylonian Empire fell to the conquests of Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. Judea lost its independence to the Romans in the 1st century BCE, by becoming first a tributary kingdom, then a province, queen Alexandra Salome had recently died, and a civil war broke out between her sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II

15.
Caliphate
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A caliphate is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph —a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many Muslim states, the Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt, before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik, or another from the same root. The term caliph, derives from the Arabic word khalīfah, which means successor, steward, however, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was successor selected by God. There was no specified procedure for this shura or consultation, candidates were usually, but not necessarily, from the same lineage as the deceased leader. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual heir, Sunni Muslims believe that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus, the Shia believe that Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, was chosen by Muhammad as his spiritual and temporal successor as the Mawla of all Muslims in the event of Ghadir Khumm. The caliph was often known as Amir al-Muminin, Muhammad established his capital in Medina, after he died, it remained the capital during the Rashidun Caliphate, before Kufa was reportedly made the capital by Caliph Ali. At times there have been rival claimant caliphs in different parts of the Islamic world, according to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph to be called Amir al-Muminin was Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, the second of the Rashidun. Uthman and Ali also were called by the title, while the Shia consider Ali to have been the only truly legitimate caliph. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the system of Caliphate in Islam as part of his secular reforms, the Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Muminin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate. Some Muslim countries, including Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, were never subject to the authority of a Caliphate, with the exception of Aceh, consequently, these countries had their own, local, sultans or rulers who did not fully accept the authority of the Caliph. Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors, Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and he faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Khawarij. Alis tumultuous rule lasted only five years and this period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shia minority sect of Islam, the followers of all four Rashidun Caliphs became the majority Sunni sect. Under the Rashidun each region of the Caliphate had its own governor, Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor of Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph

16.
Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco

17.
Jizya
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Jizya or jizyah is a per capita yearly tax historically levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects—dhimmis—permanently residing in Muslim lands under Islamic law. Dhimmis who chose to join military service were exempted from payment, Jizya is mentioned by the Quran and hadiths. The application of jizya varied in the course of Islamic history, together with kharāj, a term that was sometimes used interchangeably with jizya, taxes levied on non-Muslim subjects were among the main sources of revenues collected by some Islamic polities. Jizya rate was usually an annual amount depending on the financial capability of the payer. Sources comparing taxes levied on Muslims and jizya differ as to their relative burden depending on time, place, specific taxes under consideration, and other factors. The tax is no longer imposed by states in the Islamic world, although there are reported cases of organizations such as the Pakistani Taliban. The late Islamic scholar Abul Ala Maududi, of Pakistan, said that Jizya should be re-imposed on non-Muslims in a Muslim nation, however, most Muslims generally reject the dhimma system, which encompasses jizya, as inappropriate for the age of nation-states and democracies. Commentators disagree on the definition and derivation of the jizya, Shakirs English translations of the Quran render jizya as tax, while Pickthal. Yusuf Ali prefers to transliterate the term as jizyah, Yusuf Ali considered the root meaning of jizya to be compensation, whereas Muhammad Asad considered it to be satisfaction. And he writes about jizya, A tax that is levied on Dhimmis, michael G. Morony states that the emergence of protected status and the definition of jizya as the poll tax on non-Muslim subjects appears to have been achieved only by the early eighth century. This came as a result of growing suspicions about the loyalty of the population during the second civil war. Jane Dammen McAuliffe states that jizya, in early Islamic texts, was an annual tribute expected from non-Muslims, arthur Stanley Tritton states that both jizya in west, and kharaj in the east Arabia meant tribute. It was also called Jawali in Jerusalem, shemesh says that Abu Yusuf, Abu Ubayd, Qudama, Khatib and Yahya used the terms Jizya, Kharaj, Ushr and Tasq as synonyms. In a treaty made by Khalid with some towns in the neighborhood of Hirah, he writes, If we protect you, then jizya is due to us, in our agreement you stipulated that we protect you, but we are unable to do so. Therefore, we now return to you what we have taken from you, similarly, during the time of the Crusades, Saladin returned the jizya to the Christians of Syria when he was compelled to retract from it. The orientalist Thomas Walker Arnold writes that even Muslims were made to pay a tax if they were exempted from military service, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani states that there is a consensus amongst Islamic jurists that jizya is in exchange for military service. In the case of war, jizya is seen as an option to end hostilities, in this sense, jizya is seen as a means by which to legalize the cessation of war and military conflict with non-Muslims. The second rationale offered by Islamic scholars for the imposition of Jizya tax on non-Muslims is that it was a substitute to the requirement of zakat tax from Muslims

Jizya
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A jizya document from 17th century Ottoman Empire.
Jizya
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Devşirme was a form of human jizya (blood tax), collected from non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire. It was chiefly the annual practice by which the Ottoman Empire sent its military to force collect 20% of sons and abduct young non-Muslim boys as a tax, then convert them to Islam and require them to serve as soldiers in Ottoman military. The blood jizya practice was deeply resented by non-Muslims.

18.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period

19.
Free trade zone
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A free-trade zone is a specific class of special economic zone. It is an area where goods may be landed, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured. Free trade zones are generally organized around major seaports, international airports, the World Bank defines free trade zones as small, fenced-in, duty-free areas, offering warehousing, storage, and distribution facilities for trade, transshipment, and re-export operations. Free-trade zones are referred to as zones in the United States. In the United States, FTZs provide Customs-related advantages as well as exemptions from state, some were previously called free ports. Free zones range from specific-purpose manufacturing facilities to areas where legal systems, Free zones may reduce taxes, customs duties, and regulatory requirements for registration of business. Zones around the world often provide special exemptions from normal immigration procedures, Free zones are intended to foster economic activity and employment that could occur elsewhere. An export-processing zone is a type of FTZ, set up generally in developing countries by their governments to promote industrial and commercial exports. According to the World Bank, an export processing zone is an estate, usually a fenced-in area of 10 to 300 hectares. It offers firms free trade conditions and a regulatory environment. In 1997,93 countries had set up export processing zones employing 22.5 million people, China has specific rules differentiating an EPZ from a FTZ. For example, 70% of goods in EPZs must be exported, the worlds first document free-trade zone was established on the Greek Island of Delos in 166 BCE. It lasted until about 69 BCE when the island was overrun by pirates, the Romans had many civitas libera, or free cities, some of which could coin money, establish their own laws, and not pay an annual tribute to the Roman Emperor. These continued through at least the first millennium CE, in the 12th century the Hanseatic League began operating in Northern Europe, and established trading colonies throughout Europe. These Free Trade Zones included Hamburg, and the Steelyard in London, the Steelyard, like other Hansa stations, was a separate walled community with its own warehouses on the river, its own weighing house, chapel, counting houses and residential quarters. In 1988 remains of the former Hanseatic trading house, once the largest medieval trading complex in Britain, were uncovered by archaeologists during work on Cannon Street Station. The Shannon Zone was started to help the city airport adjust to a change in aircraft technology that permitted longer range aircraft to skip a required refueling stops at Shannon. It was an attempt by the Irish Government to maintain employment around the airport and it was hugely successful, and is still in operation today

Free trade zone
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Terminology

20.
Henry V of England
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Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 36 in 1422. He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster, after his fathers death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years War between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt and he was the son of 20-year-old Henry of Bolingbroke, and 16-year-old Mary de Bohun. He was also the grandson of the influential John of Gaunt, at the time of his birth, Richard II of England, his cousin once removed, was king. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne and his grandfather, John of Gaunt, was the guardian of the king at that time. Upon the exile of Henrys father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge, the young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland, and while in the royal service, he visited Trim Castle in County Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament. He was created Prince of Wales at his fathers coronation, and Duke of Lancaster on 10 November 1399 and his other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and Duke of Aquitaine. A contemporary record notes that during that year Henry spent time at The Queens College, Oxford, under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort, from 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall. It was there that the prince was almost killed by an arrow that became stuck in his face. An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound, the operation was successful, but it left Henry with permanent scars, evidence of his experience in battle. The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henrys energies until 1408, then, as a result of the kings ill health, Henry began to take a wider share in politics. From January 1410, helped by his uncles Henry Beaufort and Thomas Beaufort – legitimised sons of John of Gaunt – he had control of the government. Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king, the quarrel of father and son was political only, though it is probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV, and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince. It may be that the tradition of Henrys riotous youth, immortalised by Shakespeare, is due to political enmity. Henrys record of involvement in war and politics, even in his youth, the most famous incident, his quarrel with the chief justice, has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531. The story of Falstaff originated in Henrys early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle, shakespeares Falstaff was originally named Oldcastle, following his main source, The Famous Victories of Henry V. However, his descendants objected, and the name was changed. That friendship, and the political opposition to Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. If so, their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers like Thomas Walsingham that Henry, after Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey, London, Kingdom of England

21.
Privy Council of England
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The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England. Its members were often members of the House of Lords. The Privy Council of England was an institution, advising the Sovereign on the exercise of the Royal prerogative. It issued executive orders known as Orders in Council and also had judicial functions, during the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a royal court, which consisted of magnates, clergy and officers of the Crown. This body originally concerned itself with advising the Sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the Sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful Sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the Sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the Sovereign relied on a smaller committee, the Council developed significantly during the reign of Elizabeth I, gaining political experience, so that there were real differences between the Privy Council of the 1560s and that of the 1600s. By the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, the remaining house of Parliament, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, in 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, charles II restored the royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small committee of advisers. The Acts of Union 1707 united England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, during the reign of Elizabeth I, the Council is recorded under the title The Queens Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council. The Sovereign, when acting on the Councils advice, was known as the King-in-Council or Queen-in-Council, the members of the Council were collectively known as The Lords of His Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, or sometimes The Lords and others of. ). The chief officer of the body was the Lord President of the Council, another important official was the Clerk, whose signature was appended to all orders made. Membership was generally for life, although the death of a monarch brought an immediate dissolution of the Council, the Privy Council of England was one of the four principal councils of the Sovereign

22.
International Civil Aviation Organization
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The International Civil Aviation Organization, is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of air transport to ensure safe. Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Air Navigation Commission is the body within ICAO. The Commission is composed of 19 Commissioners, nominated by the ICAOs contracting states, Commissioners serve as independent experts, who although nominated by their states, do not serve as state or political representatives. The development of Aviation Standards and Recommended Practices is done under the direction of the ANC through the process of ICAO Panels. Once approved by the Commission, standards are sent to the Council, the forerunner to ICAO was the International Commission for Air Navigation. It held its first convention in 1903 in Berlin, Germany, at the second convention in 1906, also held in Berlin,27 countries attended. The third convention, held in London in 1912 allocated the first radio callsigns for use by aircraft, ICAN continued to operate until 1945. Fifty-two countries signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, in Chicago, Illinois, on 7 December 1944. Under its terms, a Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization was to be established, accordingly, PICAO began operating on 6 June 1945, replacing ICAN. The 26th country ratified the Convention on 5 March 1947 and, consequently PICAO was disestablished on 4 April 1947 and replaced by ICAO, in October 1947, ICAO became an agency of the United Nations linked to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. In April 2013 Qatar offered to serve as the new permanent seat of the Organization, according to the Globe and Mail, Qatars move was at least partly motivated by the pro-Israel foreign policy of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Approximately one month later, Qatar withdrew its bid after a proposal to the ICAOs governing council to move the ICAO triennial conference to Doha was defeated by a vote of 22–14. The 9th edition of the Convention on International Civil Aviation includes modifications from 1948 up to year 2006, ICAO refers to its current edition of the Convention as the Statute, and designates it as ICAO Document 7300/9. The Convention has 19 Annexes that are listed by title in the article Convention on International Civil Aviation, as of March 2016, there are 191 ICAO members, consisting of 190 of the 193 UN members, plus the Cook Islands. Liechtenstein has delegated Switzerland to implement the treaty to make it applicable in the territory of Liechtenstein, Taiwan attended the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly in 2013, but in 2016 was denied such an invitation, despite expressions of support from the United States for Taiwan to participate. However, the Republic of China under the name of Chinese Taipei is a member of International Air Transport Association, the Council of ICAO is elected by the Assembly every 3 years and consists of 36 members elected in 3 categories

23.
Biometrics
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Biometrics refers to metrics related to human characteristics. Biometrics authentication is used in science as a form of identification. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance, Biometric identifiers are then distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and describe individuals. Biometric identifiers are often categorized as physiological versus behavioral characteristics, physiological characteristics are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, palm veins, face recognition, DNA, palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina and odour/scent. Behavioral characteristics are related to the pattern of behavior of a person, including but not limited to typing rhythm, gait, some researchers have coined the term behaviometrics to describe the latter class of biometrics. Many different aspects of physiology, chemistry or behavior can be used for biometric authentication. The selection of a particular biometric for use in an application involves a weighting of several factors. Jain et al. identified seven such factors to be used when assessing the suitability of any trait for use in biometric authentication, universality means that every person using a system should possess the trait. Uniqueness means the trait should be different for individuals in the relevant population such that they can be distinguished from one another. Permanence relates to the manner in which a trait varies over time, more specifically, a trait with good permanence will be reasonably invariant over time with respect to the specific matching algorithm. Measurability relates to the ease of acquisition or measurement of the trait, in addition, acquired data should be in a form that permits subsequent processing and extraction of the relevant feature sets. Performance relates to the accuracy, speed, and robustness of technology used, acceptability relates to how well individuals in the relevant population accept the technology such that they are willing to have their biometric trait captured and assessed. Circumvention relates to the ease with which a trait might be imitated using an artifact or substitute, proper biometric use is very application dependent. Certain biometrics will be better than others based on the levels of convenience. No single biometric will meet all the requirements of every possible application, the block diagram illustrates the two basic modes of a biometric system. Three steps are involved in the verification of a person, in the first step, reference models for all the users are generated and stored in the model database. In the second step, some samples are matched with reference models to generate the genuine and impostor scores, third step is the testing step

24.
Pakistani passport
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The Pakistani passport is issued to citizens of Pakistan for the purpose of international travel. The Directorate General of Immigration & Passports of the Ministry of Interior is responsible for issuing passports, pakistans machine-readable and biometric passports are currently being issued from regional passport offices and Pakistani embassies. They do not carry the chip inside symbol, which is mandatory for ICAO-standard electronic passports, however Ministry of Interior is planning to start issuing E-Passport in coming years to Pakistani citizens. As of 2012, Pakistan has adopted the Multi-biometric e-Passport that is now compliant with ICAO standards, according to the Interior Minister, the biometric passports will be introduced in 2017. More than 7 million passports have been issued until now, from January 2014, passports are being issued with 5 and 10 years validity. Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel so its written as observation This passport is valid for all countries of the World except Israel on Pakistani passports, issued in late 1947, the cover of Pakistan’s first passport was largely beige in colour and only partially green. It had Pakistan Passport written in three languages, English, Bengali, and Urdu and it had two Pakistan flags, one symbolising West Pakistan and the other East Pakistan. Inside, there was the name, address, profession, photo. Pakistanis did not require pre-arrival visas and could get visas-on-arrival in any country they wished to travel, by 1954, the colour green had ousted the beige. The two flags were still there, but the name now appeared on the cover. Consequently, West Pakistani passports had Pakistan Passport written only in English and Urdu, whereas East Pakistani passports had the written in English. This was soon changed, but the rest of the remained the same, holders name, photo, address, profession. Pakistanis could still get on-arrival-visas in most countries, except Israel, however, India and Pakistan were still issuing on-arrival-visas to one another despite the fact that both had gone to war in 1948. The dark green passport lasted till 1960, in 1956, when the Constituent Assembly authored and passed the countrys first constitution, it declared Pakistan an Islamic republic. It was also decided that the term Islamic Republic of Pakistan was to appear on Pakistani passports by 1958. However, this never happened because in 1958, the powerful president, Iskander Mirza. Mirza suspended the constitution, terming it “the peddling of Islam for political gains. ”Within the first 20 days of the coup, Ayub ousted Mirza as well and he changed the name of the country to the Republic of Pakistan. The first passport issued by the Ayub regime was in 1960 and it was light green in colour, symbolising the regimes modernist and moderate view of Islam

Pakistani passport
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The front cover of a contemporary Pakistani passport.
Pakistani passport
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Current Pakistani passport. (Areas containing personal information are grayed out.)
Pakistani passport
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British Indian passport issued during the colonial days, when Pakistan was not formed but constituted as part of India
Pakistani passport
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Pakistani passport

25.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo, the name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea

North Korea
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Jikji, the first known book printed with movable metal type in 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
North Korea
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Flag
North Korea
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Gyeongbok Palace is the largest of the Five Grand Palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty.
North Korea
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Three Koreans shot for pulling up rails as a protest against seizure of land without payment by the Japanese

26.
Conscription in Finland
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Conscription in Finland is part of a general compulsion for national military service for all adult males defined in the 127§ of the Constitution of Finland. Conscription can take the form of military or of civilian service, according to Finnish Defence Forces 2011 data slightly under 80% of Finnish males turned 30 had entered and finished the military service. The number of volunteers to annually enter armed service had stabilised at approximately 300. The service period is 165,255 or 347 days for the rank, the length of civilian service is always twelve months. Those electing to serve unarmed in duties where unarmed service is possible serve either nine or twelve months, any Finnish citizen who refuses to perform both military and civilian service faces a penalty of 173 days in prison, minus any served days. Such sentences are usually served fully in prison, with no parole, providing they are still an active member 3 years later, there is nothing to stop them getting a further certificate and deferment. The inhabitants of the demilitarized Åland Islands are exempt from military service, by the Conscription Act of 1951, they are, however, required to serve a time at a local institution, like the coast guard. However, until such service has been arranged, they are freed from service obligation, the non-military service of Åland islands has not been arranged since the introduction of the act, and there are no plans to institute it. The inhabitants of islands can also volunteer for military service on the mainland. As of 1995, women are permitted to serve on a voluntary basis, the military service takes place in Finnish Defence Forces or in the Finnish Border Guard. All services of the Finnish Defence Forces train conscripts, however, the Border Guard trains conscripts only in land-based units, not in coast guard detachments or in the Border Guard Air Wing. Civilian service may take place in the Civilian Service Center in Lapinjärvi or in an accepted non-profit organization of educational, social or medical nature, the Finnish Defence Forces is based on a universal male conscription. All men above 18 years of age are liable to serve either 165,255 or 347 days, yearly about 27,000 conscripts are trained. About 80% of Finnish male citizens complete the service, thus, Finland has one of the highest rates of conscription, along with such countries as Israel, Armenia, South Korea, Turkey, Estonia, and North Korea. The conscripts first receive basic training, after which they are assigned to units for special training. Privates who are trained for tasks not requiring special skills serve for five, in technically demanding tasks the time of service is eight and half or eleven and half months. All males are liable to report at the event of their municipality of domicile in the autumn of the year they turn 18. The Finnish Defence Forces sends the youth an official invitation to the event along with an information package, prior to the drafting event, the male is required to visit a municipal doctor for a physical examination

Conscription in Finland
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Finnish conscripts swearing their military oath at the end of their basic training period.

27.
British nationality law
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British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom which concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is due to the United Kingdoms historical status as an imperial power. Some thought the single Imperial status of British subject as increasingly inadequate to deal with a Commonwealth with independent member states. The British Nationality Act 1948 established the status of Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, the national citizenship of the United Kingdom and colonies on 1 January 1949. Until the early 1960s there was little difference, if any, in UK law between the rights of CUKCs and other British subjects, all of whom had the right at any time to enter and live in the UK. Independence Acts, passed when the colonies were granted independence. In general, these provisions withdrew the status of CUKC from anyone who became citizens of the independent country. Exceptions were sometimes made in cases where the colonies did not become independent, the principal British nationality law now in force is the British Nationality Act 1981, which established the current system of multiple categories of British nationality, viz. British citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens, British Overseas citizens, British Nationals, British subjects, only British citizens and certain Commonwealth citizens have the automatic right of abode in the UK. The 1981 Act ceased to recognise Commonwealth citizens as British subjects, British subjects connected with former British India lose British nationality if they acquire any other. There are currently six classes of British national, British citizen British citizens usually hold this status through a connection with the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. British citizenship is the most common type of British nationality, other rights can vary according to how the British citizenship was acquired. In particular there are restrictions for British citizens by descent transmitting British citizenship to children born outside the UK and these restrictions do not apply to British citizens otherwise than by descent. British Overseas Territories citizen BOTC is the form of British nationality held by connection with a British Overseas Territory and it is possible to hold BOTC and British citizenship simultaneously. Nearly all are now also British citizens as a result of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, the four residual categories are expected to become extinct with the passage of time. They can be passed to only in exceptional circumstances, e. g. if the child would otherwise be stateless. There is consequently little provision for the acquisition of these classes of nationality by people who do not already have them, British Overseas citizen In general, most BOCs are CUKCs who did not qualify for British citizenship or British Dependent Territories citizenship. This is fairly uncommon, most CUKCs lost their CUKC status upon independence, in 1997, BDTCs with a connection to Hong Kong became BOCs after they did not register as British Nationals and would become stateless after the withdrawal of BDTC status from Hong Kong residents

British nationality law
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A British citizenship ceremony in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
British nationality law
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Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom

28.
UK passport
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British passports are passports issued by the United Kingdom. They may be issued to persons holding any of the forms of British nationality. The passports can also used, if applicable, as the evidence of the right of abode in the United Kingdom or citizenship of the European Union, or both. In 2017, British citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 173 countries and territories, in the United Kingdom, British passports are issued by HM Passport Office. In conjunction with the Post Office, it is possible to submit most passport applications at a number of branches. In Commonwealth and foreign countries, British passports used to be issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the Passport Section of a British consulate, embassy, or High Commission. Since 2009, some British embassies ceased issuing full passports, and as of 2010, the FCO says, In their 2006 report on consular services, the National Audit Office recommended limiting passport production to fewer locations to increase security and reduce expenditure. In other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, applications for British passports could be submitted in person at the counter in a number of post office branches, the only exception applies to British Nationals, who are entitled to hold a passport in that status. Since all British passports are issued in the name of the Crown, in exceptional circumstances, entry may be refused on grounds of public policy, public security or public health, under Chapter VI of the Citizens’ Rights Directive. The right of abode in the UK, i. e. the right to enter and it is also held by some British subjects and those other Commonwealth citizens who were patrials under the Immigration Act 1971. Safe Conduct documents, usually notes signed by the monarch, were issued to foreigners as well as English subjects in medieval times and they were first mentioned in an Act of Parliament, the Safe Conducts Act in 1414. Between 1540 and 1685, the Privy Council issued passports, although they were signed by the monarch until the reign of Charles II when the Secretary of State could sign them instead. The Secretary of State signed all passports in place of the monarch from 1794 onwards, Passports were written in Latin or English until 1772, when French was used instead. From about 1855 English was used, with some sections translated into French for many years, in 1855 passports became a standardised document issued solely to British nationals. They were a simple single-sheet paper document, and by 1914 included a photograph of the holder, the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 was passed on the outbreak of World War I. A new format was introduced in 1915, a single sheet folded into eight with a cardboard cover and it included a description of the holder as well as a photograph, and had to be renewed after two years. Some duplicate passports and passport records are available at the British Library, for example IOR, a passport issued on 18 June 1641 and signed by King Charles I still exists. In 1968 the validity was extended five years renewable up to ten

29.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour —between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour

30.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport
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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Passport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong. As the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, in English, the passport is sometimes referred to by its long-form name which appears on the cover. Most frequently, the Hong Kong SAR passport is known as 特區護照 – a literal translation in English would be SAR passport, the Brazilian Consulate-General in Hong Kong uses the term Hong Kong passport in reference to both the Hong Kong SAR and British National passports. The issuing of Hong Kong SAR passports began on 1 July 1997, note that acquisition of British citizenship in the British Nationality Selection Scheme itself does not affect the eligibility for a HKSAR passport. Nor does the holding of any foreign passport itself affect the eligibility for a HKSAR passport, under Hong Kong Basic Law, the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control in the territory. The Hong Kong SAR passport is issued by the Immigration Department of Hong Kong under the authorisation of the Central Peoples Government and its design is distinct from other types of Peoples Republic of China passports and the holders enjoy visa-free entry to more countries than other PRC passports. Hong Kong official travel documents prior to 1997 included the Hong Kong Certificate of Identity, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British National, after 1997, BN and BC passports are still valid but CIs and BDTC passports are no longer in use. Chinese citizenship AND Permanent residency in the Hong Kong SAR who has right of abode AND A valid Hong Kong permanent identity card, in comparison with the British National passport, the Hong Kong SAR passports application fees are lower. When applying in Hong Kong, a British National passport costs £83, in comparison with other Chinese passports, when applying from Hong Kong, the Peoples Republic of China passport costs HK$250, whilst the Macao SAR passport costs MOP$370/HK$359. Chinese citizens residing Hong Kong who are yet Hong Kong permanent residents are not eligible for this passport, Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong but less than 11 years old are not also eligible for this passport since they do not hold a permanent ID. Such persons may be issued Hong Kong Re-entry Permit in lieu of HKSAR passport, after they obtain a permanent ID, they may be issued HKSAR passport, however. In February 2007, the first ePassport was introduced, the design conforms with the document design recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The new ePassport featured in the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Event and was a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Award in the Public Administration categeory, the Hong Kong SAR ePassport design was praised on account of the multiple state-of-the-art technologies are seamlessly integrated in the sophisticated Electronic Passport System. The cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions, in 2006, the Immigration Department announced that Unihub Limited had won the tender to provide the technology to produce biometric passports. In February 2007, the first ePassport was introduced, the cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom under the word PASSPORT, however, the design of the inner pages has changed substantially. On the reverse of the identification page insert is a blue image with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region emblem in the centre. At the top is a pattern of the words 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區 HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, at the bottom is a picture of Victoria Harbour behind an outline of the Great Wall of China

31.
Danish Realm
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government

Danish Realm
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Tinganes, in the capital Tórshavn, is the location of the Faroese Home Government.
Danish Realm
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The Unity of the Realm on the Globe. (dark green)

32.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum

European Union
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In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell, enabling the union to expand further (Berlin Wall pictured).
European Union
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Flag
European Union
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2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.
European Union
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The 65,993 km (41,006 mi) coastline dominates the European climate (Cyprus).

33.
Faroe Islands
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The Faroe Islands, also spelled the Faeroes, is an archipelago between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, about halfway between Norway and Iceland,320 kilometres north-northwest of Scotland. Its area is about 1,400 square kilometres with a population of 49,188 in 2016, the Faeroe Islands is an autonomous country within the Danish Realm. The land of the Faeroes is rugged, and these islands have an oceanic climate, windy, wet, cloudy. Despite this island groups northerly latitude, temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream, between 1035 and 1814, the Faeroes were part of the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway. In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the islands, the Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. The Faroese have control of most domestic matters, areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, the police department, the justice department, currency, and foreign affairs. However, as they are not part of the customs area as Denmark, the Faroe Islands have an independent trade policy. The islands also have representation in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation, the people of the Faroe Islands also compete as national team in certain sports. In Danish, the name Færøerne may reflect an Old Norse word fær, the morpheme øerne represents a plural of ø in Danish. The Danish name thus translates as the islands of sheep, in Faroese, the name appears as Føroyar. Oyar represents the plural of oy, older Faroese for island, the modern Faeroese word for island is oyggj. In the English language, their name is sometimes spelled Faeroe, archaeological evidence shows settlers living on the Faroe Islands in two successive periods prior to the arrival of the Norse, the first between 400 and 600 and the second between 600 and 800. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen have also found early cereal pollen from domesticated plants, archaeologist Mike Church noted that Dicuil mentioned what may have been the Faroes. He also suggested that the living there might have been from Ireland, Scotland or Scandinavia. A Latin account of a made by Brendan, an Irish monastic saint who lived around 484–578. This association, however, is far from conclusive in its description, Dicuil, an Irish monk of the early 9th century, wrote a more definite account. 800, bringing Old West Norse, which evolved into the modern Faroese language, according to Icelandic sagas such as Færeyjar Saga, one of the best known men in the island was Tróndur í Gøtu, a descendant of Scandinavian chiefs who had settled in Dublin, Ireland. Tróndur led the battle against Sigmund Brestursson, the Norwegian monarchy, a traditional name for the islands in Irish, Na Scigirí, possibly refers to the Skeggjar Beards, a nickname given to island dwellers

34.
Danish passport
–
Danish passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark to facilitate international travel. Different versions exist for nationals of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands although all citizens have the same nationality, Danish nationals residing in Greenland and the Faroe Islands can choose between the Danish EU passport and the local non-EU passport. Every Danish citizen is also a citizen of the European Union, the passport entitles its bearer to freedom of movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland as provided in Directive 2004/38/EC. According to the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index, Danish citizens can visit 174 countries without a visa or with a visa granted on arrival, the Danish and Greenlandic versions of the passport have burgundy colour covers, according to the European Unions recommendations, while the Faroese version is green. All contain the Danish Coat of Arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover, with the word DANMARK above it, since 1 August 2006, biometric passports are issued. Above the word DANMARK, the Danish version contains the words DEN EUROPÆISKE UNION, while in the Greenlandic, fields on the bearers page are in Danish, English and French, with translations in the official languages of the European Union elsewhere in the document. Instead of French, Faroese or Greenlandic are used in the Faroese, the page contains the following information, Photo of the passport holder Type Passport No. Names containing special letters are spelled the way in the non-machine-readable zone, but are mapped in the machine-readable zone, æ becoming AE, ø becoming OE. This follows the international machine-readable passport standard, besides the ordinary passport, also 3 versions of blue service passports and a single red diplomatic passport are issued. The latter does not bear the text DEN EUROPÆISKE UNION, in 2016, Danish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 174 countries and territories, thus ranking the Danish passport 4th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. According to the World Tourism Organization 2016 report, the Danish passport is 1st in the world in terms of travel freedom, the passport design including images from the Jelling Stones was introduced in 1997, when the current red design was introduced. Previous Danish passports had green or beige. EU rules allow any citizen of a country to travel anywhere in the EU without a passport, if they have a national identity card stating citizenship. Denmark and a few other EU countries do not issue such cards, there has been some political support for introducing such cards since the EU rule was introduced, but this has not yet become a reality

35.
Aboriginal Provisional Government
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The Aboriginal Provisional Government is an Indigenous Australian independence movement. The idea of an Aboriginal government was developed by some Aboriginal delegates of the Federation of Land Councils at its meeting at JaJa in the Northern Territory in 1990, the Federation was a powerful national body but which pretty much limited its involvement to land issues. Some Federation members felt the Aboriginal cause had to move to another level, the Provisional aspect was included for two reasons, first, this Aboriginal body would foster a transition from white government control to an eventual full blown black national government. Second, the APG was not set up to govern Aboriginal people, bob Weatherall, Josie Crawshaw, Geoff Clark, Clarrie Isaacs, Michael Mansell, Robbie Thorpe, Kathy Craigie and Lyall Munro Jnr were founding members of the APG. Charles Perkins early efforts of freedom rides in NSW and his arguments with politicians. Perkins later organization of Aboriginal football carnivals led to Geoff Clark, word quickly spread about the formation of the APG. The first public announcement of formation of the APG took place at Tranby College, Glebe, in 1992 the APG held a national meeting at Hobart, Tasmania where an Elders Council was established. Queenslander Joe McGuiness, a strong unionist and campaigner for the 1967 referendum, the APG issues Aboriginal passports and Aboriginal birth certificates. Passports are a way of declaring national black identity and are used by young Aboriginals as an identity document. Birth certificates are issued so that Aboriginal children are not forced to be registered at birth with the nation of Australia. Jack Davis, a well-known Aboriginal poet from WA, gave APG permission to use part of his poem about an Aboriginal nation, the APG letterhead carries Jacks words at the bottom of the page. The Australian government shunned the APG after the APG declared it would meet on a government to government basis. Members of the APG eventually met with Prime Minister Paul Keating on native title legislation, however, Mansell later refused to go with his co-Aboriginal delegates to sign off on the final legislation with Keating because Mansell refused to validate invalid grants. Such validation only targeted Aboriginal native title, while leaving white land interests intact, deputy Chair Geoff Clark, was elected as national head of ATSIC. Clark advocated within ATSIC for a treaty and found widespread support and his Board established a Treaty committee and published Lets Treaty Now. When John Howard was elected Australian Prime Minister, he made it harder for Aborigines to get native title. The APG has produced 4 volumes of written materials, Vol.1 Aboriginal Government, Vol.2 the national conference, Vol.3 the Australian Constitution and Vol.4 Mabo. The APG argues Aborigines were a people before the white invasion in 1788

36.
Passport validity
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Some countries issue adult passports for periods between five and ten years, such as the Cuban passport, which is valid for six years. Some countries allow adult applicants to choose a passport validity, usually 5 or 10 years, for an example Canada, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Russia or South Korea. Many countries require passports to be valid for no less than six months upon arrival, other countries require either a passport valid on arrival or passport valid throughout the period of intended stay. 1 – Involuntary limitation of passport validity for young adults.2 – Extended validity for senior citizens only

37.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety

38.
Irish passport
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Irish passports are issued to Irish citizens by the Consular and Passport Division of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as an indication of Irish citizenship, every Irish citizen is also a citizen of the European Union by right. Irish passport booklets use the standard European Union design, with an identity page and 34 or 64 visa pages. The cover bears the harp, the symbol of Ireland. The words on the cover are in both of Irelands official languages, Irish and English, the top of the cover page reads An tAontas Eorpach and the equivalent in English, European Union. Just above the harp are the words Éire and its equivalent in English, the identity page on older Irish passport booklets was on the back cover of the booklet. Newly issued passport booklets have been redesigned with additional security features, the identity page is now a plastic card attached between the front cover and the first paper page. The ePassport or biometric passport, was launched on 16 October 2006 with the first ePassports presented that day by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, photo of passport holder, printed in greyscale. Signature The information page ends with the machine readable zone starting with P<IRL, formerly, the request was also made in French, but this has been discontinued as newer versions of the passport were introduced. The data page/information page is printed in Irish, English and French, each detail includes a reference number. This reference number can be used to look up translations into any other EU language, the latest Irish passport booklets have security features designed to make them difficult to forge or be mistaken as forgeries. They have also been optimised for machine reading, the identity page of the passport booklet has been moved to the front of the passport and is now printed on a plastic card. This allows easier machine reading of the passport, as the official has to spend less time finding the identity page in the passport. The top-right corner of the booklet contains the biometric chip, which contains a copy of the information contained on the identity page. To prevent unauthorised parties remotely accessing the information stored in the RFID biometric chip and this safeguard is known as Basic Access Control. The background of the identity page is a complex celtic design, the identity picture is now greyscale, and is digitally printed onto the surface of the page, rather than the actual photos sent by the applicant being pasted onto the page. The Irish harp is superimposed as a hologram onto the right corner of the photograph. The words Éire Ireland are embossed several times into either side of the identity page and this embossing partially covers the photograph as an added security measure

Irish passport
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The front cover of a contemporary Irish biometric passport booklet.
Irish passport
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Front of the card (note that the validity of this specimen image is TEN years, rather than the actual current maximum of FIVE years)
Irish passport
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Reverse
Irish passport
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An Irish passport's information page from 1951

39.
Non-citizen (Latvia)
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Approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians, followed by ethnic Belarusians, ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Poles and ethnic Lithuanians. Non-citizens of Latvia enjoy a benefit not afforded to citizens of being able to travel to both the Schengen Area as well as Russia, without the need for a visa. According to the census, in March 2011, there were 290,660 non-citizens living in Latvia or 14. 1% of Latvian residents. According to the Population Register, in January 2011,326,735 non-citizens resided in Latvia, the data of the Population Register, as at January 2016, showed 252,017 non-citizens living in Latvia. By the far largest ethnic group of all non-citizens are Russians, additionally,4,535 non-citizens were registered as living outside Latvia. In the age group below 18, non-citizens form 2. 1% of residents, among adults -14. 2%, in the age group above 90,25. 0%, as at 2015. As at 2014, the majority of non-citizens,62. 4%, the referendum held in October 1998 eliminated the windows system, which limited the age groups allowed to naturalize each year. It also gave the right to children of non-citizens born in Latvia after August 21,1991 to be registered as citizens without naturalisation barring imprisonment or other citizenship. Parents can request citizenship for their children until age 15, after which a child can make the request on their own behalf from age 15 to 17, according to the Constitutional Court of Latvia,15. After the passing of the Non-Citizen Law a new, up to that time unknown category of persons appeared – Latvian non-citizens, Latvian non-citizens can be regarded neither as citizens, nor aliens or stateless persons but as persons with a specific legal status 17. Individuals who were citizens of Latvia as of 17 June 1940, prior to Soviet occupation, were again recognized as citizens. That effectively limited non-citizen status to largely Russophones arriving during the Soviet era, notably this included some of those that had elected the parliament in question. To deal with the issue of former Soviet citizens without Latvian citizenship, the issue of non-citizens has been equated to the problem of statelessness. Non-citizens have been described as stateless by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Latvian Ombudsman R. Apsītis has considered the specific legal status of non-citizens to be questionable from the viewpoint of international law. By definition in Latvian law, non-citizens are not stateless, while they have rights akin to citizens, for example, the right to reside in Latvia without visas or temporary residence permits, rights in other areas are curtailed. Non-citizens cannot vote, although they can participate to a degree in public policy through NGOs. Pension rights are limited, and non-citizens cannot hold positions in local and national government, the civil service. Non-citizens are exempt from service, which was compulsory for male Latvian citizens until 2006

40.
Estonian nationality law
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Estonian citizenship - based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis - is governed by 19 January 1995 law promulgated by the Riigikogu which took effect on 1 April 1995. The Police and Border Guard Board is responsible for processing applications, resolution Concerning the Citizenship of the Democratic Republic of Estonia, the first Estonian citizenship law was adopted by the Estonian National Council on 26 November 1918. The Citizenship Law adopted in 1922 defined the principles of succession by applying the jus sanguinis principle, children born to parents, at least one of whom was an Estonian citizen at the time of birth are automatically considered Estonian citizens by descent. Children born in Estonia are eligible for Estonian citizenship if at least one parent holds Estonian citizenship at the time of birth, a person who married an Estonian citizen before 26 February 1992 is eligible for Estonian citizenship. People who have graduated from an Estonian-speaking high school or an institute of education are assumed to fulfill this criterion without the need to take a full examination. Male Estonian citizens are required to take up national service, undefined citizenship is a term used in Estonia to denote a post-Soviet form of statelessness. It is applied to migrants from former Soviet republics and their children. Persons of undefined citizenship who reside legally in Estonia can apply for an aliens passport, Estonian aliens passport allows visa-free travel within Schengen treaty countries for a maximum of 90 days in a 6-month period. Alternatively they are entitled to naturalise as citizens and receive an Estonia passport, although not legally permitted, some naturalised Estonian citizens also possess another, e. g. Russian citizenship. According to law, acquiring a foreign citizenship voluntarily and entering into a military or civilian service for another state constitute forfeiture of Estonian citizenship, visa requirements for Estonian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Estonia. Nationality law Estonian passport Non-citizens Non-citizen US Nationals - American Samoans, who are US nationals but not US citizens

41.
United States nationality law
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Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 sets forth the requirements for the acquisition of. Felons can vote in over 40 states, and in at least 2 while incarcerated, felons can also serve jury duty if approved. Some U. S. citizens have the obligation to serve in a jury, if selected, citizens are also required to pay taxes on their total income from all sources worldwide, including income earned abroad while living abroad. U. S. taxes payable may be reduced by credits for foreign income taxes regardless of the length of stay abroad. The United States Government also insists that U. S. citizens travel into and out of the United States on a U. S. passport, regardless of any other nationality they may possess. Male U. S. citizens from 18–25 years of age are required to register with the Selective Service System at age 18 for possible conscription into the armed forces. Although no one has been drafted in the U. S. since 1973, armed Forces, and will perform work of national importance under civilian direction. In some cases, the USCIS allows the oath to be taken without the clauses regarding the first two of these three sworn commitments, there are various ways a person can acquire United States citizenship, either at birth or later on in life. In the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark,169 U. S, as of 2015, the United States includes all inhabited territories except American Samoa and Swains Island. INA301 and INA301 state, and one of whom has had a residence, the FAM states no amount of time specified. A persons record of birth abroad, if registered with a U. S. consulate or embassy, is proof of citizenship and they may also apply for a passport or a Certificate of Citizenship as proof of citizenship. A person born on or after November 14,1986, is a U. S. citizen if all of the following are true, a persons record of birth abroad, if registered with a U. S. consulate or embassy, is proof of citizenship. Such a person may apply for a passport or a Certificate of Citizenship to have a record of citizenship. Such documentation is often useful to prove citizenship in lieu of the availability of an American birth certificate, different rules apply for persons born abroad to one U. S. citizen before November 14,1986. United States law on this subject changed multiple times throughout the century. A person who was not born a U. S. citizen may acquire U. S. citizenship through a known as naturalization. Also during those 60 months if the permanent resident was outside of the U. S. for a continuous period of 6 months or more they are disqualified from naturalizing

42.
British Overseas citizen
–
In British nationality law, the status of British Overseas citizen is one of several categories of British national. A British Overseas citizen does not have a right to live in the United Kingdom. g. By birth or descent from a person born in the UK and Islands and it was possible for a person to acquire British citizenship and BDTC at the same time. For example, a born in Bermuda before 1983 with a parent born in the United Kingdom would have acquired both nationalities. British Overseas citizens All other CUKCs became British Overseas citizens, there are categories of British national other than these three, but these consist of persons who were not CUKCs before 1983 or who were connected with Hong Kong before 1997. As British Overseas citizenship is a category for CUKCs who did not acquire British citizenship or BOTC in 1983. These include, persons holding CUKC by connection with a colony or protectorate who did not acquire that countrys citizenship on independence. This applied particularly to some colonies, such as Kenya. A notable case is that of the former Settlements of Penang and these were combined in 1948 with the nine Malay states to form the Federation of Malaya. On independence on 31 August 1957, British protected persons from the Malay states lost their BPP status, on 16 September 1963, the colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore were joined with Malaya to form Malaysia. CUKC was withdrawn from those acquiring Malaysian citizenship in 1963, cyprus became an independent Commonwealth country on 16 August 1960, although a nationality law was not enacted until 16 February 1961. Persons resident in any area of the Commonwealth immediately before 16 August 1960 retained CUKC even if they acquired Cypriot citizenship. CUKCs who did not qualify to become British Citizens or British Dependent Territories Citizens became British Overseas Citizens on 1 Jan 1983 according to the British Nationality Act of 1981. Descendants of British Overseas Citizens who do not qualify for any nationality may be allowed to register as British Overseas Citizens. A CUKC who acquired right of abode before 1983 would have become a British citizen on 1 January 1983, save for some transitional arrangements made under the 1981 Act it is normally only possible for a person to acquire British Overseas citizenship if otherwise stateless. A British Overseas citizen parent does not in itself give rise to a claim to British Overseas citizenship and this applies whether one is born in the UK or elsewhere. If married to a British citizen, it is possible to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen after three years residence in the United Kingdom provided ILR is held on the day of application. Both of these options confer British citizenship otherwise than by descent, previously such persons would have not had the right of abode in any country, and would have thus been de facto stateless

British Overseas citizen
–
British citizenship and British nationality law

43.
British subject
–
The term British subject has had a number of different legal meanings over time. Currently the term British subject refers, in British nationality law and this second group were predominantly residents of colonies which had become independent, but who had not become citizens of the new country. The status cannot be inherited, and is lost on the acquisition of any other citizenship, the term subject is used rather than citizen because in a monarchy the monarch is the source of authority in whose name all legal power in civil and military law is exercised. The people of a monarchy in former times were regarded as the subjects who were under certain obligations such as owing allegiance to, and thereby entitled to the protection of. Before 1949, every person born within the dominions and allegiance of the English and later British Crown was, based on common law, to be a subject required only that a person be born in any territory under the sovereignty of the Crown. The only exception in common law was that children of foreign ambassadors took the nationality of their fathers, from time to time, statutes were passed expanding the class of persons who held the status of subject. III st.2 naturalised the children of English parents born overseas, entitlement to the status of British subject was first codified by the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914, which came into effect on 1 January 1915. Within the British Empire, the class of people who were not British subjects were the rulers of native states formally under the protection of the British Crown. Between 1947 and 1951 each of the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations created its own national citizenship, the Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 came into effect on 1 January 1947. The Australian Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into force on 26 January 1949, in all cases, the national citizenship co-existed with the continuing status of British subject. However, CUKCs, in common with citizens of other Commonwealth countries, in contrast, the British Nationality Act 1981 now provides that, as far as United Kingdom law is concerned, no person is a British subject except as provided by the Act. In Canada, Commonwealth citizen replaced the term British subject when the Citizenship Act 1977 replaced the Canadian Citizenship Act 1947, New Zealand no longer defined the status of British subject when the Citizenship Act 1977 replaced the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 on 1 January 1978. However, s.2 of the Act still contains a reference in the definition of Alien to. Commonwealth citizen, australia retained the status of British subject until the Australian Citizenship Amendment Act 1984 removed Part II of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 effective on 1 May 1987. Between 1 January 1983 and 1 May 1987 a British citizen, the term encompassed all citizens of countries listed in the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. The list was based on, but was not identical with and this definition of British subject meant that, for the purposes of Australian nationality law, citizens of countries that had become republics, such as India, were grouped as British subjects. British subjects ceased to be eligible to be issued with Australian passports under Australian nationality law in 1984, the voting rights of persons who were British subjects and were enrolled to vote on 25 January 1984 have been preserved. As at June 2009, almost 163,000 voters have a British subject notation on the electoral roll, unusual arrangements were made in the cases of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. In most other Commonwealth countries, the term Commonwealth citizen was used instead of British subject, use of the term British subject was discontinued for all persons who fell into these categories, or who had a national citizenship of any other Commonwealth country

British subject
–
British citizenship and British nationality law

44.
British Nationals (Overseas)
–
British National, commonly known as BN, is one of the major classes of British nationality under British nationality law. Holders of this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, the nationality itself does not grant right of abode anywhere in the world, including United Kingdom or Hong Kong, but all BNs possess either right of abode or right to land in Hong Kong. BNs are subject to British immigration controls and do not have the right to live or work in the United Kingdom. The British National status was created by the Hong Kong Act 1985 in anticipation of transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, BNs enjoy consular protection as British nationals would when travelling outside Hong Kong. However, since most BNs also hold Chinese nationality, they do not enjoy protection in Mainland China and Macau. From 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1997, nearly 3.4 million of British Dependent Territories Citizens in Hong Kong successfully registered for British National, BN status has the following unique characteristics, It could not be acquired through naturalization, and could only be acquired by registration. Voluntary registration was required, as it could not be obtained automatically, in order to be registered as a BN, one had to be a British Dependent Territories Citizen. Therefore, Hong Kong residents who were born in Mainland China were required to be naturalized as BDTCs in order to be eligible. It could only be acquired by BDTCs who were born on or before 30 June 1997, after 1 January 1998, it could not be further acquired by any person. It can be held in conjunction with other nationalities or citizenship, most BNs are also Chinese nationals, and its possible to be a British citizen and a BN at the same time. Children of BNs who were born after 1 July 1997 cannot acquire BN status through jus sanguinis, BN status cannot be restored once renounced. It cannot be terminated automatically, but it can be deprived, British Nationals can enter the UK for up to six months as a visitor, but must obtain a visa to reside in the UK for activities that last longer than six months. They also need authorizations to work in the UK, British Nationals are legally entitled to hold a passport in that status. British Nationals who held no other citizenship on 19 March 2009 are entitled to register as full British citizens, provisions regarding eligibility to the BN status can be found in section 4 of the Hong Kong Order 1986, as amended by section 2 of the Hong Kong Order 1993. Governor MacLehose first raised this question during his office in Hong Kong, the public concern immediately resulted in a series of negotiations between the Chinese and British governments in the early 1980s on the future prospect of Hong Kong. As a response to fear, the late Chairman Deng Xiaoping came up with the promise of one country. His gesture was able to resume temporarily trust and confidence in the future of Hong Kong and this would allow the British nationals of Hong Kong to retain an appropriate relationship with the United Kingdom after 1 July 1997. The new class of British nationality, known as British National, was created by the Hong Kong Act 1985 and this new type of nationality would be granted for life upon successful registration but non-hereditary

45.
Interpol Travel Document
–
An Interpol Travel Document is a travel document issued to Interpol officers for travel to Interpol member countries. They are intended to reduce response times for personnel deployed to assist with transnational criminal investigations, the e-Passport Booklet contains 34 visa pages and a polycarbonate machine readable bio-data page. The cover is black with silver embossing on the front, the word INTERPOL in both Latin and Arabic script appears at the top, with the Interpol logo below. The word for Passport then follows in all four official Interpol languages, English, French, Spanish, the biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom of the cover. The bio-data page features the name, date and place of birth, photograph and signature, their job title, the passport number, the issuer code XPO. A machine readable strip runs along the bottom of the page, the e-Identification Card is a light blue polycarbonate smartcard. The front features the Interpol logo overlaid with the biographical data, photograph and signature. The reverse features the officers job title, the issue date, the issuer code XPO. The Interpol travel documents were developed by the EDAPS Consortium and Entrust, both travel documents meet the relevant ICAO/ISO standards and have been allocated the three-letter country code XPO. The passports are produced in Kiev by EDAPS and can be printed and dispatched in less two hours after an individuals personal data has been received. The holder is then granted visa exemption, expedited visa processing or some other special visa treatment depending on the individual arrangement and this was achieved by the conclusion of the 83rd General Assembly. United Nations laissez-passer Official website INTERPOLs Travel Document on YouTube

46.
Interpol
–
The International Criminal Police Organization, ICPO or INTERPOL, is an intergovernmental organization facilitating international police cooperation. It was established as the International Criminal Police Commission in 1923, it chose INTERPOL as its address in 1946. Interpol has a budget of around €78 million, most of which is provided through annual contributions by its membership of 190 countries. The organizations headquarters is in Lyon, France and it is the second largest political organization after the United Nations in terms of international representation. In 2013, the Interpol General Secretariat employed a staff of 756 and its current Secretary-General is Jürgen Stock, the former deputy head of Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office. He replaced Ronald Noble, a former United States Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement, Interpols current President is Meng Hongwei, Deputy Minister of Public Security of China. In the first part of the 20th century, several efforts were taken to formalize international police cooperation, among these efforts were the First International Criminal Police Congress in Monaco in 1914, and the International Police Conference in New York in 1922. The Monaco Congress failed because it was organized by legal experts and political officials, not by police professionals, while the New York Conference failed to attract international attention. Founding members included police officials from Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom joined in 1928. The United States did not join Interpol until 1938, although a US police officer unofficially attended the 1923 congress, following Anschluss in 1938, the organization fell under the control of Nazi Germany, and the Commissions headquarters were eventually moved to Berlin in 1942. Most members withdrew their support during this period, from 1938 to 1945, the presidents of Interpol included Otto Steinhäusl, Reinhard Heydrich, Arthur Nebe, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. All were generals in the SS, and Kaltenbrunner was the highest ranking SS officer executed after the Nuremberg Trials. After the end of World War II in 1945, the organization was revived as the International Criminal Police Organization by officials from Belgium, France, Scandinavia and its new headquarters were established in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris. They remained there until 1989, when they were moved to their present location in Lyon, until the 1980s, Interpol did not intervene in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in accordance with Article 3 of its Charter, which prohibited intervention in political matters. In July 2010, former Interpol President Jackie Selebi was found guilty of corruption by the South African High Court in Johannesburg for accepting bribes worth €156,000 from a drug trafficker. After being charged in January 2008, Selebi resigned as president of Interpol and was put on extended leave as National Police Commissioner of South Africa. In November 2016, Meng Hongwei, a politician from the Peoples Republic of China, was elected president at the 85th Interpol General Assembly, the role of Interpol is defined by the general provisions of its constitution. To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes, Article 3 states, It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character

47.
Bangladesh
–
Bangladesh, officially the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It shares land borders with India and Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it. The countrys maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area, Bangladesh is the worlds eighth most populous country. Dhaka is its capital and largest city, followed by Chittagong which has the countrys largest port, Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region. Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions, Bengalis, who speak the official Bengali, make up 98% of the population. The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the worlds third largest Muslim-majority country, most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta, the largest delta on Earth. The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km of inland waterways, highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country. Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef and it is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. The countrys biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife, including critically endangered Bengal tigers, the Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent, in the 3rd century BCE. Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh, which had trade links for millennia. The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries, the region was home to many principalities which had inland naval prowess. It was also a center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade. As part of British India, the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance, the Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan, and was renamed as East Pakistan. The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after independence, a parliamentary republic was established. A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990, followed by a return to parliamentary democracy, the country has also been affected by poverty, natural disasters, hunger, dominant party systems and military coups. Bangladesh is a power and a major developing nation. Listed as one of the Next Eleven, it has the 46th largest economy and it is one of the largest textile exporters in the world. Its major trading partners are the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, with its strategically vital location between Southern, Eastern and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation

48.
Umrah
–
The ʿUmrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the Hajj. In Arabic, Umrah means to visit a populated place and it is sometimes called the minor pilgrimage or lesser pilgrimage, the Hajj being the major pilgrimage and which is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Umrah is not compulsory but highly recommended, the pilgrim performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Ibrahim and his second wife Hajar, and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are, Perform a tawaf طواف, which consists of circling the Kaaba seven times in an anticlockwise direction, men are encouraged to do this three times at a hurried pace, followed by four times, more closely, at a leisurely pace. Perform a sai سعي, which means rapidly walking seven times back and this is a re-enactment of Hajars frantic search for water. The baby Ishmael cried and hit the ground with his foot and this source of water is today called the Well of Zamzam. Perform a halq or taqsir, meaning a shaving of the hair, a taqsir is a partial shortening of the hair typically reserved for women who cut a minimum of one inch or more of their hair. A halq is a complete shave of the head, usually performed on men, both of these signify the submission of will to God over glorifying physical appearances. The head shaving/cutting is reserved until the end of Umrah and these rituals complete the Umrah, and the pilgrim can choose to go out of ihram. Although not a part of the ritual, most pilgrims drink water from the Well of Zamzam, various sects of Islam perform these rituals with slightly different methods. The peak times of pilgrimage are the days before, during and after the Hajj, there are two types of Umrah, depending on whether one wishes to combine the Umrah with Hajj, al-Umrat al-mufradah al-mustaqillah an al-Hajj and al-Umrat al-mundammah ila al-Hajj. Al-Umrat al mufradah refers to Umrah that is performed independently of Hajj, umrat al-tammatu refers to Umrah that is performed in conjunction with Hajj. More precisely, the rituals of the Umrah are performed first, both are Islamic pilgrimages, the main difference is their level of importance and the method of observance. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory for every Muslim once in their lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially capable. Hajj is performed during a designated Islamic month, however, Umrah can be performed at any time. Both seem similar in the start, Umrah can be performed in less than a few hours while Hajj is more time consuming, and involves more rituals. Throughout Muhammads era the Muslims wanted to establish the right to perform Umrah, during that time Mecca was occupied by Arab Pagans who used to worship idols inside Mecca. The first military campaign related to the Umrah was the Nakhla Raid ordered by Muhammad, when the Quraysh saw the shaven head of Ukkash, they thought that the group was on its way for pilgrimage and they felt relieved and began to set up camp

49.
Mecca
–
Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca

50.
East Malaysia
–
East Malaysia, also known as Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan or Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak, and it lies to the east of Peninsular Malaysia, which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are separated by the South China Sea, while East Malaysia is less populated and less developed than West Malaysia, its land mass is larger and it has notably more natural resources, chiefly oil and gas reserves. Some parts of present-day East Malaysia, especially the regions, were once part of the thalassocracy of the Sultanate of Brunei. However, most parts of the region consisted of independent tribal societies. In 1658, the northern and eastern coasts of Sabah were ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu while the west coast of Sabah, beginning in the mid 19th century, Sabah and Sarawak became British protectorates, and, in 1946, they became separate British colonies. Sabah and Sarawak were separate British colonies from Malaya, and did not become part of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, however, each voted to become part of the new Federation of Malaysia along with the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963. Previously, there were efforts to unite Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak under the North Borneo Federation, Sabah and Sarawak retained a higher degree of local government and legislative autonomy than other states in West Malaysia. For example, both states have their own immigration controls, requiring Malaysian citizens from West Malaysia to carry passports or identity cards when visiting East Malaysia, the islands of Labuan were once part of North Borneo in 1946 before becoming a Federal Territory in Malaysia on 1984. It was used to establish a centre for finance in 1990. The consensus seems to be that Sabah and Sarawak are merely states of the federation with a higher degree of autonomy compared to states in Peninsular Malaysia. There are also separate laws governing Sabah and Sarawak, as opposed to the National Land Code. With regard to the administration of justice, the courts in East Malaysia are part of the court system in Malaysia. The Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two High Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction – The High Court in Malaya and the High Court in Sabah, the current Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak is Richard Malanjum from Sabah. His office is the fourth highest in the Malaysian judicial system, in 1976, all the Sabah and Sarawak MPs supported the Malaysian parliament bill which downgraded both the states from equal partners to one of the 13 states in the federation. Political parties in Sarawak and Sabah evolved independently of each other, party switching and party leadership tussle are common in both the states. The landscape of East Malaysia is mostly rain forests with areas of mountain rain forest towards the interior regions. The total area of East Malaysia is 200,565 km2, representing approximately 61% of the land area of Malaysia

East Malaysia
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The island of Borneo, with East Malaysia shown in orange

51.
Sabah
–
Sabah, nicknamed Malay, Negeri Di Bawah Bayu, is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Sabah has a level of autonomy in administration, immigration. It is situated in northern Borneo, bordering the state of Sarawak to the southwest, Kalimantan of Indonesia to the south, Sabah shares maritime borders with Vietnam in the west and the Philippines to the north and east. Kota Kinabalu is the city, the economic centre of the state. Other major towns in Sabah include Sandakan and Tawau, as of the 2015 census in Malaysia, the states population is 3,543,500. Sabah has a climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal. The state has long mountain ranges on the west side which form part of the Crocker Range National Park, Kinabatangan River, second longest river in Malaysia runs through Sabah and Mount Kinabalu is the highest point of Sabah as well of Malaysia. The earliest human settlement in Sabah can be traced back to 20, the state had a trading relationship with China from the 14th century AD. Sabah came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 15th century, the state was subsequently acquired by the North Borneo Chartered Company in the 19th century. During World War II, Sabah was occupied by the Japanese for three years and it became a British Crown Colony in 1946. On 31 August 1963, Sabah was granted self-government by the British, following this, Sabah became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia alongside Sarawak, Singapore, and the Federation of Malaya. Sabah exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, culture and language, the head of state is the Governor, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, while the head of government is the Chief Minister. The government system is modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and has one of the earliest state legislature system in Malaysia. Sabah is divided into divisions and districts. Malay is the language of the state, and Islam is the official religion. Sabah is known for its musical instrument, the sompoton. Sabah is the state in Malaysia to celebrate the Kaamatan festival. Sabah has abundant natural resources, and its economy is strongly export-oriented, the primary exports include oil, gas, timber and palm oil

52.
Sarawak
–
Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. The capital city, Kuching, is the centre of the state. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, as of the 2015 census, the total population of Sarawak is 2,636,000. Sarawak has a climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park, Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia, Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in Sarawak, the earliest known human settlement in Sarawak, located at the Niah Caves, dates back to 40,000 years ago. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century, in 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, arrived in Sarawak. He, and his descendants, governed the state from 1841 to 1946, during World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, on 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British and subsequently became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia leading to a three-year confrontation, the creation of the Federation also resulted in a communist insurgency that lasted until 1990. The head of state is the Governor, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Sarawak exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, culture, and language, major ethnic groups in Sarawak are, Iban, Malay, Chinese, Melanau, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. English and Malay are the two official languages of the state, there is no official religion. The Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated on a public holiday. The official explanation of the word Sarawak is that it is derived from the Sarawak Malay word serawak, which means antimony. A popular alternative explanation is that it is a contraction of the four Malay words purportedly uttered by Pangeran Muda Hashim, Saya serah pada awak, James Brooke became the first of the White Rajah dynasty to govern Sarawak. Sarawak is nicknamed Land of the Hornbills and these birds are important cultural symbols for the Dayak people, representing the spirit of God. It is also believed if a hornbill is seen flying over residences

Sarawak
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A west view of a river from the anchorage off Sarawak, Borneo circa 1800s. Painting from the National Maritime Museum of London.
Sarawak
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SirJames Brooke, the first Rajah of Sarawak.
Sarawak
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An 1888 postage stamp of Sarawak featuring the picture of Charles Brooke.
Sarawak
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Japanese propaganda banner as seen in Kuching shortly after the surrender of Japan. Image taken on 12 September 1945.

53.
MyKad
–
The Malaysian identity card, is the compulsory identity card for Malaysian citizens aged 12 and above. The term MyKad is a compound of two words with meanings, namely My and Kad. The initial MyKad was a contact card solution developed and manufactured by IRIS Corporation, made of PC with the dimensions in the ISO/IEC7816 ID-1 format, the initial card had a 32kb EEPROM embedded chip running on M-COS. In November 2002, the capacity was increased to 64kb, the upgraded and current version of the MyKad is a hybrid card containing two chips for both contact and contactless interfaces. Currently, this hybrid type MyKad is only issued in Malaysian states that employ the Touch n Go application. The MyKad chip has a data retention up to 20 years, All Malaysian citizens and permanent residents 12 years old or above are eligible for a MyKad. From 2001, it replaced an older Malaysian Identity Card system. Children are issued with a MyKid after birth and this card is upgraded to a MyKad on the 12th birthday. The MyKad must be replaced when a person reaches 18 years old, adoption was optional but was spurred by the waiving of the application fee of between RM20 and RM50 until 31 December 2005. As of 27 December 2005,1,180,208 Malaysians still held an old identity card, after the waiving period ended on 31 December 2005, each new first-time application comes with a fee of RM10. g. A person born on 1 January 1900 would have 000101 as the first digits, in cases where the persons actual date of birth according to the Gregorian calendar is uncertain, the date on which the person first applied for a MyKad is used, noted by an asterisk. PB, the seventh and eighth digit, based on the place of birth of the person, policemen and armed forces is assigned with the unique digit,88 and 99 respectively throughout their term of service. After ending their term of service, they would gain the MyKad with the middle digits based on their place of birth, ###, the ninth through eleventh digit is the generic special number generated by the National Registration Department of Malaysias computer system. G, the 12th digit represents the gender of the person, the odd numbers for G denote male while the even numbers denote female. On the back of the card, there is an additional 2-digit number after the 12-digit number to indicate the number of MyKad which a previously held. Prior to 2001, originally, any person who was born abroad used digit 71 or 72 in their identity card number and it is estimated that about 171,023 registered voters who born abroad and used digit 71 or 72 in MyKad. Majority of them born in Singapore before 1965, including Azmin Ali, however, since 2001, any baby who was born abroad after 2001 is referred according to their place of birth rather than general digit 71 or 72 in their MyKad. It also affected any person who was born abroad regardless of their year of birth, High Quality Identity Card was in use as the Malaysias identity card from 1990 to 2001

MyKad
–
Press Release image of the new features that are included in the MyKad

54.
Malaysian passport
–
The Malaysian passport is the passport issued to citizens of Malaysia by the Immigration Department of Malaysia. They were formerly designated Paspot Malaysia, but the spelling was changed to Pasport in the 1980s, the main legislation governing the production of passports and travel documents, their possession by persons entering and leaving Malaysia, and related matters is the Passport Act 1966. Processing of Malaysian passport applications and renewals is very rapid, with new passports usually issued one hour after payment for normal cases, holders of Malaysian passports enjoy visa-free travel or visa on arrival to many nations around the world. Malaysia was the first country in the world to issue biometric passports in March 1998, after a company, IRIS Corporation. In December 2002, thumbprint data was added to the data on the passport chip. Similar technology is used in the Malaysian identity card, MyKad, the biometric data included on the Malaysian passport is a digital photograph of the bearers face, and images of their two thumbprints. On 2 February 2010, Malaysia started issuing ICAO compliant e-Passports and it was the 75th nation in the world to adopt the ICAO standard. There are three types of Malaysian passports, The regular international passport is the passport issued to Malaysian citizens for international travel. The regular international passport has incorporated biometric features since 1998, the biometric passport contains an 8 kB microchip which was developed by a Malaysian technology firm, IRIS Corporation. In February 2010, the passport was updated to comply with the ICAO standard on biometric and machine-readable passports, beginning April 2013, the passport underwent another round of updating by introducing a polycarbonate sheet that holds the passport bearers information. The information is laser engraved into the sheet for added security. With this the passport now holds 50 pages instead of 48 pages, there is no more 64 pages option since 2011. A 50-page ICAO e-passport valid for five years costs RM200, senior citizens, children below 12 years old, Hajj pilgrims, and students below 21 years old with proof to study abroad are entitled to half price from normal price. Disabled people are entitled to have their passports issued free of charge, previously, a 50-page ICAO e-passport valid for two years was available for RM100. On 15 January 2015, the two-year passport option was scrapped in conjunction with the announcement that reduced the normal five-year passport issuance fee from RM300 to RM200. The passport is used by citizens from Peninsular Malaysia to enter the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. The Official Passport is issued exclusively to Malaysian government officials travelling on official business and it is issued by the Immigration Department of Malaysia upon request through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The diplomatic passport is issued to diplomatic officers, as Malaysia does not recognise nor have diplomatic relations with the state of Israel, Malaysian passports bear the inscription, This passport is valid for all countries except Israel

55.
Identity document
–
An identity document is any document which may be used to prove a persons identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, some countries issue formal identity documents, while others may require identity verification using informal documents. When the identity document incorporates a persons photograph, it may be called photo ID, in the absence of a formal identity document, a drivers license may be accepted in many countries for identity verification. Some countries do not accept drivers licenses for identification, often because in countries they do not expire as documents. Most countries accept passports as a form of identification, some countries require all people to have an identity document available at any time. Many countries require all foreigners to have a passport or occasionally a national identity card from their country available at any time if they do not have a permit in the country. The identity document is used to connect a person to information about the person, the photo and the possession of it is used to connect the person with the document. A unique national identification number is the most secure way, a version of the passport considered to be the earliest identity document inscribed into law was introduced by King Henry V of England with the Safe Conducts Act 1414. For the next 500 years and before World War I, most people did not have or need an identity document, both Australia and Great Britain, for example, introduced the requirement for a photographic passport in 1915 after the so-called Lody spy scandal. The shape and size of identity cards were standardized in 1985 by ISO/IEC7810, some modern identity documents are smart cards including a difficult-to-forge embedded integrated circuit, that were standardized in 1988 by ISO/IEC7816. New technologies allow identity cards to contain information, such as photographs, face, hand or iris measurements. Electronic identity cards are available in countries including Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Morocco, Portugal. Law enforcement officials claim that identity cards make surveillance and the search for criminals easier, in countries that dont have a national identity card, there is, however, concern about the projected large costs and potential abuse of high-tech smartcards. There is debate in these countries about whether such cards and their centralised database would constitute an infringement of privacy, most criticism is directed towards the enhanced possibilities of extensive abuse of centralised and comprehensive databases storing sensitive data. None of the countries listed above mandate possession of identity documents, for example, all vehicle drivers must have a driving licence, and young people may need to use specially issued proof of age cards when purchasing alcohol. Arguments for identity documents as such, In order to avoid mismatching people, Every human being already carries their own personal identification in the form of DNA, which is extremely hard to falsify or to discard. For example, in Sweden private companies such as banks refused to issue ID cards to individuals without a Swedish card and this forced the government to start issuing national cards. It is also hard to control information usage by private companies

56.
Internal passport of Russia
–
The Internal Russian passport is a mandatory identity document for all Russian citizens who are aged 14 or over. The current Russian internal passports were first issued in 2007, the Universal electronic card issued since 2013, could replace the Russian Internal passport as the sole national identity document for Russian citizens starting 2018. In 1992, passports – or other identification documents – became necessary to board a train. Train tickets started to bear passenger names, allegedly, as an effort to combat speculative reselling of the tickets, on 9 December 1992, special pages were introduced which were affixed in Soviet passports, certifying that the bearer of the passport was a citizen of Russia. These pages were optional unless travelling to the other former Soviet republics which continued to accept Soviet passports, for other occasions, issuance of the pages continued until the end of 2002. On 8 July 1997, the design of the Russian internal passport was introduced. Unlike the Soviet passports, which had three pages, the new passports only have one. A passport is first issued at the age of 14, a deadline for exchanging old passports for the new ones was initially set at year-end of 2001, but then extended several times and finally set at 30 June 2004. The government had first regulated that having failed to exchange ones passport would constitute a punishable violation, however, the Supreme Court ruled to the effect that citizens cannot be obliged to exchange their passports. The Soviet passports ceased to be valid as means of personal identification since mid-2004, nevertheless, under the new regulations, permanent registration records are stamped in citizens internal passports just as were propiskas. This has led to the misconception that registration was just a new name for the propiska. Internal Russian passports are issued only inside the country, Russian citizens who live abroad can get internal passport only if they visit Russia, i. e. it is not possible to get internal passport in the Russian consulate abroad. In practice, Russian citizens who live abroad often do not get new passports at all. Each passport has a page and a signature page. Upon reaching the age of 20 and 45, the passport must replaced, while undergoing military conscription, the passport can be issue or replaced at their place of residence at the end of the set period of military service. In November 2010 the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the cancellation of internal passports, starting from March 1,2018, the new cards will be issued to every citizen of the Russian Federation, which supposed to replace old booklet documents completely by 2025

Internal passport of Russia
–
An example of an internal Russian passport
Internal passport of Russia
–
Second page
Internal passport of Russia
–
Text in Russian: " place of residence: Irkutsk ". Almost every citizen has such stamp in internal Russian passport about registration at the place of residence (sometimes still called " propiska ").

57.
ISO/IEC 7810
–
ISO/IEC7810 Identification cards — Physical characteristics is an international standard that defines the physical characteristics for identification cards. The characteristics specified include, Physical dimensions Resistance to bending, flame, chemicals, temperature, the standard defines four card sizes, ID-1, ID-2, ID-3 and ID-000. All card sizes have a thickness of 0.76 mm. The standard defines both metric and imperial measurements, noting that, The ID-1 format specifies a size of 85.60 ×53.98 mm and it is commonly used for banking cards. Today it is used for driving licences in many countries. Both the recently issued Irish and much older U. S. passport cards, Crew Member Certificates, the ID-2 format specifies a size of 105 ×74 mm. This size is the A7 format, the ID-2 format is used, for example, for visas. It is used for the French identity card, and was used by the German identity card issued until October 2010. Since November 2010, German ID cards are issued in the ID-1 format more widely used in Europe for national ID cards and it was previously also used for Finnish and Swedish drivers licences before those changed to the ID-1 format. ID-3 specifies a size of 125 ×88 mm and this size is the B7 format. This format is used for passport booklets. ID-000 specifies a size of 25 mm ×15 mm, with one corner slightly bevelled, the ID-000 size was first defined by ENV 1375-1, Identification card systems — Intersector integrated circuit card additional formats — Part 1, ID-000 card size and physical characteristics. This size is used for the format of subscriber identity modules. An ID-1 size card containing an ID-000 size card is denoted as ID-1/000, iSO/IEC7816 defines ID-1 identification cards with an embedded chip and contact surfaces for power, clock, reset and serial-data signals. Magnetic stripe card MM Code IEC7810, 2003-1

58.
ISO 216
–
ISO216 specifies international standard paper sizes used in most countries in the world today, although not in Canada or the United States. The standard defines the A and B series of sizes, including A4. Two supplementary standards, ISO217 and ISO269, define related paper sizes, all ISO216, ISO217 and ISO269 paper sizes have the same aspect ratio,1, √2, at least to within the rounding to whole numbers of millimetres. This ratio has the property that when cut or folded in half widthwise. Each ISO paper size is one half of the area of the larger size. In 1786, the German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg described the advantages of basing a paper size on a ratio of 2 in a letter to Johann Beckmann. The formats that became ISO paper sizes A2, A3, B3, B4 and they were listed in a 1798 law on taxation of publications that was based in part on page sizes. The main advantage of this system is its scaling, the ISO system of paper sizes exploit these properties of the 2 aspect ratio. In each series of sizes, the largest size is numbered 0, a folded brochure can be made by using a sheet of the next larger size (for example, an A4 sheet is folded in half to make a brochure with size A5 pages. An office photocopier or printer can be designed to reduce a page from A4 to A5 or to enlarge a page from A4 to A3, similarly, two sheets of A4 can be scaled down to fit one A4 sheet without excess empty paper. This system also simplifies calculating the weight paper, under ISO536, papers grammage is defined as a sheets weight in grams per area in square metres. Since an A0 sheet has an area of 1 m2, its weight in grams is the same as its grammage, one can derive the grammage of other sizes by arithmetic division in g/m2. A standard A4 sheet made from 80 g/m2 paper weighs 5 g, thus the weight, and the associated postage rate, can be easily approximated by counting the number of sheets used.414 aspect ratio, rounded to the nearest millimetre. A0 is defined so that it has an area of 1 square metre before rounding. Successive paper sizes in the series are defined by halving the length of the paper size. The most frequently used of this series is the size A4 which is 210 mm ×297 mm, for comparison, the letter paper size commonly used in North America is approximately 6 mm wider and 18 mm shorter than A4. The geometric rationale behind the root of 2 is to maintain the aspect ratio of each subsequent rectangle after cutting or folding an A series sheet in half. The formula that gives the border of the paper size An in metres and without rounding off is the geometric sequence

ISO 216
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Comparison of A4 (shaded grey) and C4 sizes with some similar paper and photographic paper sizes.

59.
Serial number
–
A serial code is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item. It is also called a number, although it may be a character string that includes letters and other typographical symbols. Serial numbers identify otherwise identical individual units with many, obvious uses, Serial numbers are a deterrent against theft and counterfeit products, as they can be recorded, and stolen or otherwise irregular goods can be identified. Banknotes and other documents of value bear serial numbers to assist in preventing counterfeiting and tracing stolen ones. They are valuable in quality control, as once a defect is found in the production of a batch of product. Serial numbers may be used to identify individual physical or intangible objects, the purpose and application is different. A software serial number, otherwise called product key, is not embedded in the software. The software will function if a potential user enters a valid product code. The vast majority of codes are rejected by the software. If an unauthorised user is found to be using the software, the term serial number is sometimes used for codes which do not identify a single instance of something. It takes its name from the library use of the word serial to mean a periodical. Certificates and certificate authorities are necessary for use of cryptography. These depend on applying mathematically rigorous serial numbers and serial number arithmetic, the term serial number is also used in military formations as an alternative to the expression service number. Because of this, the number is sometimes called a tail number. LZ548/G—the prototype de Havilland Vampire jet fighter, or ML926/G—a de Havilland Mosquito XVI experimentally fitted with H2S radar, the serial number follows the aircraft throughout its period of service. In 2009 the U. S. FDA published draft guidance for the industry to use serial numbers on prescription drug packages. This measure will enhance the traceability of drugs and help to prevent counterfeiting, Serial numbers are often used in network protocols. However, most sequence numbers in computer protocols are limited to a number of bits

Serial number
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Serial number from an identity document
Serial number
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Serial number on a semi-automatic pistol

60.
Andean passport
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The Andean passport is a passport for South American countries that are members of the Andean Community of Nations. The Andean passport was created in June 2001 pursuant to ACN Decisión 504 and this passport is based on a standard model containing harmonised features of nomenclature and security based on the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The passport is effective in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and formerly, Venezuelan ACN passports issued are valid until its expiration date. The last Venezuelan ACN passports were more likely to expire between 2011 and 2012, the Andean passport features, a passbook type format with rounded edges measuring 88 mm by 125 mm. a cover and back cover in “bordeaux” color. Above the national seal of the country, the cover has the legend COMUNIDAD ANDINA. Below the seal is printed the name of the member country. The bottom of the cover has the word PASAPORTE, with PASSPORT immediately below in smaller type, DECISION525, Minimum specific technical characteristics of Andean Passport nomenclature and security

61.
Passports of the European Economic Area
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Passports issued by European Economic Area member states or Switzerland can be used by citizens to exercise the right of free movement within the European Economic Area and Switzerland. When going through border controls to enter an EEA country, EEA, anyone travelling with children must also use an immigration counter. As an alternative to holding a passport, EEA or Swiss citizens can use a valid national identity card to exercise their right of free movement within the EEA. Strictly speaking, it is not necessary for an EEA or Swiss citizen to possess a passport or national identity card to enter the EEA or Switzerland. In theory, if an EEA or Swiss citizen outside of both the EEA and Switzerland can prove his/her nationality by any means, he/she must be permitted to enter the EEA or Switzerland. Since the 1980s, member states of the European Union have started to harmonise aspects of the designs of their passports, as well as common security features. Passports issued in the EFTA member states do not necessarily list such references, on the top of the identification page there is the code P for passport, the code for the issuing country, and the passport number. On the left there is the photo. On other places there might optionally be an identification number. The layout of the data page shall follow the specifications given in part 1 of ICAO Document 9303. Newer EEA passports contain a Machine-readable zone, which contains the name, nationality, apostrophes and similar have to be omitted, but hyphens and spaces should be replaced by an angle bracket. Diacritical marks are not permitted in the MRZ, even though they may be useful to distinguish names, the use of diacritical marks in the MRZ could confuse machine-reading equipment. For example, the German umlauts and the letter ß are mapped as AE / OE / UE and SS, so Müller becomes MUELLER, Groß becomes GROSS, and Gößmann becomes GOESSMANN. The ICAO mapping is used for computer-generated and internationally used documents such as air tickets. German credit cards use in their non-machine-readable zone either the correct or the mapped spelling, the Austrian passport can contain a note in German, English, and French that AE / OE / UE / SS are the common mappings of Ä / Ö / Ü / ß. Names originally written in a writing system may pose another problem if there are various internationally recognized transcription standards. For example, the Russian surname Горбачёв is transcribed Gorbachev in English, Gorbatschow in German, Gorbatchev in French, Gorbachov in Spanish, Gorbaczow in Polish, the machine-readable zone contains the name transliterated in a standardized way, defined by the standard for machine readable travel documents. There are also tables for the transliteration of names written using Cyrillic and Arabic scripts, section 6 of the ICAO document 9303 part 3 specifies transliteration of letters outside the A–Z range

Passports of the European Economic Area
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The front cover of a contemporary Norwegian biometric passport
Passports of the European Economic Area
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Austria
Passports of the European Economic Area
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Belgium
Passports of the European Economic Area
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Bulgaria

62.
Argentine passport
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Argentine passports are issued to citizens of Argentina by the National Registry for People. They were issued exclusively by the Argentine Federal Police up to 2011 and their primary use is to facilitate international travel. Argentine passports are valid for all over the world. For traveling within South America, Argentines do not need to use a passport, on June 15,2012, the Argentine Interior Ministry announced the immediate introduction of biometric passports. The new passports will have unique numbers, a significant change from the current policy, if the person is an Argentine citizen by naturalisation rather than by birth, a Citizenship Certificate must also be presented. Citizens under the age of 18 may only get a passport with parental authorization, Argentines living outside the country must follow the same procedure at an Argentine Embassy or Consulate. Regular Passport price is 550 ARS, applicants usually receive their passports via postal mail within 15 days. Since January 2011, in all cases, Argentine passports are valid for 10 years, beforehand, they were only given in 5-year-periods. Passports are not issued to persons who are under arrest because of criminal offenses, in accordance with Mercosur regulations, it is blue-covered, with the legend MERCOSUR written on its top, followed by the countrys name in Spanish, the national coat of arms and the word PASAPORTE. A biometric passport has the symbol at the bottom. It has a page with a machine-readable zone and a digital photograph of the passport holder. All the information is written in Spanish and English, in the map, half of the Chilean Magallanes Region isnt shown, included the Strait of Magellan, the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego and all islands south of the Beagle Channel. In Argentine passports, the message is in Spanish, English, Portuguese, under special circumstances, if a woman is stateless but married to an Argentine citizen, the Federal Police will issue a Pasaporte de Esposa de Argentino in order to leave the country. The same applies for persons under the age of 18 who were adopted by Argentine parents. passportland. com

Argentine passport
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The back cover of the previous and current version of the Argentine passport
Argentine passport
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The front cover of the current biometric Argentine passport, featuring its Mercosur blue cover.

63.
Guatemala
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With an estimated population of around 15.8 million, it is the most populated state in Central America. Guatemala is a democracy, its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. The territory of modern Guatemala once formed the core of the Maya civilization, most of the country was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century, becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 as part of the Federal Republic of Central America, from the mid to late 19th century, Guatemala experienced chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company, in 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U. S. -backed military coup in 1954 ended the revolution, from 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. As of 2014, Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index, Guatemalas abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes a large number of endemic species and contributes to Mesoamericas designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The country is known for its rich and distinct culture. The name Guatemala comes from the Nahuatl word Cuauhtēmallān, or place of many trees and this was the name the Tlaxcaltecan soldiers who accompanied Pedro de Alvarado during the Spanish Conquest gave to this territory. The first evidence of habitation in Guatemala dates back to 12,000 BC. Evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation had been developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in the Quiché region in the Highlands, archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period, the Classic period, and the Postclassic period. Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded as a period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts. This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states and this lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. The cause of the collapse is debated, but the Drought Theory is gaining currency, supported by such as lakebeds, ancient pollen. A series of prolonged droughts, among other such as overpopulation, in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya

Guatemala
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Tikal Mayan ruins.
Guatemala
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Flag
Guatemala
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The Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado led the initial Spanish efforts to conquer Guatemala.
Guatemala
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Criollos rejoice upon learning about the declaration of independence from Spain on September 15, 1821.

64.
Honduras
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Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a republic in Central America. It has at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, the Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras has the worlds highest murder rate, Honduras spans about 112,492 km2 and has a population exceeding 8 million. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone, as reflected in the areas demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry. Honduras literally means depths in Spanish, the name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish, or to Columbuss alleged quote that Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras. It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province, prior to 1580, Honduras only referred to the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part. Another early name is Guaymuras, revived as the name for the dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica. In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural area, in the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant state within Hondurass borders was in Copán, Copán fell with the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Chorti, remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country. On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo. Bartholomews men stole whatever cargo they wanted and kidnapped the elderly captain to serve as an interpreter in what was the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador, followed by Hernán Cortés, bringing forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco Montejo. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans, resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira, and many regions in the north never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spains vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala, Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals

65.
Nicaragua
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Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus. Nicaraguas capital, Managua, is the countrys largest city and the third-largest city in Central America, the multi-ethnic population of six million includes indigenous peoples, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Native tribes on the eastern coast speak their own languages, the Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821, since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that led to the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Nicaragua is a democratic republic. The biological diversity, warm climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination. The name Nicaragua was coined by Spanish colonists based on the name Nicarao, when Spaniard Gil González Dávila came to Nicaragua in 1521 he found in the areas between Rivas and San Jorge the first pre-Columbian natives of Nicaragua. At the time the city was called Quauhcapolca and the cacique leaders name was Macuilmiquiztli. The Pipil migrated to Nicaragua from central Mexico after 500 BC, meanwhile, the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua was inhabited by other peoples, mostly Chibcha language groups. They had coalesced in Central America and migrated also to present-day northern Colombia and they lived a life based primarily on hunting and gathering. In 1502, Christopher Columbus became the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed southeast toward the Isthmus of Panama, on his fourth voyage, Columbus explored the Miskito Coast on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The Spanish attempted to convert all three tribes to Christianity, Nicaragua and Nicarao and their people converted, but Dirangen, however, did not, the first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by Gil González Dávila, who arrived in Panama in January 1520. The first Spanish permanent settlements were founded in 1524, conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaraguas principal towns in 1524, Granada on Lake Nicaragua was the first settlement, followed by León at a location west of Lake Managua. Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and fought against incursions by other conquistadors, Córdoba was later publicly beheaded following a power struggle with Pedro Arias Dávila. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the ruins of León Viejo, the clashes among Spanish forces did not impede their destruction of the indigenous people and their culture. The series of battles came to be known as the War of the Captains, Pedro Arias Dávila was a winner, although he had lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and successfully established his base in León. Through adroit diplomatic machinations, he became the first governor of the colony, many indigenous people died as a result of new infectious diseases, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence. In 1610, the Momotombo volcano erupted, destroying the capital and it was rebuilt northwest of what is now known as the ruins of Old León

66.
Andean Community of Nations
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The Andean Community is a customs union comprising the South American countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1996 and came into existence when the Cartagena Agreement was signed in 1969 and its headquarters are in Lima, Peru. Its estimated GDP PPP for 2011 amounts to US$902.86 billion, the original Andean Pact was founded in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In 1973 the pact gained its sixth member, Venezuela, in 1976 however, its membership was again reduced to five when Chile withdrew. Venezuela announced its withdrawal in 2006, reducing the Andean Community to four member states, recently, with the new cooperation agreement with Mercosur, the Andean Community gained four new associate members, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. These four Mercosur members were granted membership by the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in an enlarged session with the Commission on July 7,2005. In 1999, these organizations began negotiating a merger with a view to creating a South American Free Trade Area and it was formally established by the May 23,2008, Constitutive Treaty of the USAN signed in Brasília. During 2005, Venezuela decided to join Mercosur, Venezuelas official position first appeared to be that, by joining Mercosur, further steps could be taken towards integrating both trade blocs. However some analysts interpreted that Venezuela might eventually leave the CAN in the process, officials in Colombia and Peru expressed their disagreement with this view, as did representatives from Venezuelas industrial sector. In spite of this announcement, Venezuela still had not formally completed all the necessary withdrawal procedures, according to Venezuelas Commerce Minister María Cristina Iglesias, the entire process was going to take up five years. Until then, Venezuela and its partners would remain bound by the effects of the communitys preexisting commercial agreements. During a visit to Colombia in August 2007, President Hugo Chávez was asked by the presidents of Ecuador and Bolivia to rejoin the Andean Community of Nations, and he responded that he would agree. Meanwhile, at time the Mercosurs relations with Venezuela were weakening as Mercosur was not agreeing with some of the Hugo Chávezs proposals. Eventually Venezuela achieved the full membership of the Mercosur in 2012, in addition to CAN, Bolivia is also a member of the WTO, UNASUR, and ALBA. Travellers should present the authorities their national ID cards, visitors to Venezuela will have to present their passports, they will then receive the Andean Migration Card, in which the time of temporary residence in the country is stated. The Andean passport was created in June 2001 pursuant to Decisión 504 and this stipulates the issuing of a passport based on a standard model which contains harmonised features of nomenclature and security. The passport is effective in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, central American Common Market Customs Union Free Trade Area of the Americas Mercosur Trade bloc Union of South American Nations Community official webpage BBC - S America launches trading bloc

Andean Community of Nations
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Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima
Andean Community of Nations
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67.
Bolivia
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Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is the Andean mountain range, with one of its largest cities and principal economic centers, El Alto, Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia. Bolivia is geographically the largest landlocked country in the Americas, but remains a small country in economic. Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuzco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century. During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, spain built its empire in great part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivias mines. After the first call for independence in 1809,16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Since independence, Bolivia has endured periods of political and economic instability, including the loss of peripheral territories to its neighbors, such as Acre. The countrys population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, the racial and social segregation that arose from Spanish colonialism has continued to the modern era. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara, modern Bolivia is constitutionally a unitary state, divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands and it is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index and a poverty level of 53 percent. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing such as textiles, clothing, refined metals. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals, especially tin, Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. Sucre opted to create a new nation and, with local support. The original name was Republic of Bolívar, some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed, If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia. The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825, the region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived. However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku culture which had its capital at Tiwanaku, the capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally based village. The community grew to urban proportions between AD600 and AD800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes

68.
Ecuador
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Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres west of the mainland. What is now Ecuador was home to a variety of Amerindian groups that were incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Amerindian languages are also recognized, including Quichua and Shuar. The capital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil, in reflection of the countrys rich cultural heritage, the historical center of Quito was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Cuenca, the third-largest city, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 as an outstanding example of a planned. Ecuador has an economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum. The country is classified as a medium-income country, Ecuador is a democratic presidential republic. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, Ecuador is also known for its rich ecology, hosting many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. It is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, various peoples had settled in the area of the future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. They developed different languages while emerging as unique ethnic groups, even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. Over time these groups began to interact and intermingle with each other so that groups of families in one area became one community or tribe, with a similar language and culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast, the Quitus, each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, a group of nations formed confederations, one region consolidated under a confederation called the Shyris, which exercised organized trading and bartering between the different regions. Its political and military came under the rule of the Duchicela blood-line. The native confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, Bolivia, similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language, in contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior, as a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers, the Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their language and culture well into the 21st century

69.
Peru
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Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence, subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability, Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is a country with a high Human Development Index score. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, the Peruvian population, estimated at 31.2 million in 2015, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages and this mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. The name of the country may be derived from Birú, the name of a ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans, thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú. An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilasco de la Vega, son of an Inca princess, the Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, the earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 BC. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using such as irrigation and terracing, camelid husbandry. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money, the oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal, the Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC along what is now Perus Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture. The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, on the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, and the more outstanding Chimu and Mochica. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo, in the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America with their capital in Cusco

Peru
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Sculpted Chavin head embedded in one of the walls of the temple of Chavín de Huantar
Peru
Peru
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A Moche ceramic vessel from the 5th century depicting a man's head
Peru
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The citadel of Machu Picchu, an iconic symbol of pre-Columbian Peru

70.
Union of South American Nations
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The Union of South American Nations is an intergovernmental regional organization comprising 12 South American countries. The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on 23 May 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, according to the Constitutive Treaty, the Unions headquarters will be located in Quito, Ecuador. On 1 December 2010, Uruguay became the state to ratify the UNASUR treaty. The South American Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the headquarters of its bank, Panama and Mexico attended the signing ceremony as observers. The group announced their intention to model the new community after the European Union including a common currency, parliament, according to Allan Wagner Tizón, former Secretary General of the Andean Community, a complete union like that of the EU should be possible by 2019. The mechanics of the new entity came out of the First South American Community of Nations Heads of State Summit, a notable early exponent of this trend was Francisco de Miranda, who envisioned a federated republic encompassing all of Hispanic America, which he called Colombia. In 1826, Bolívar summoned a conference to be held in Panama, the Congress was attended by Gran Colombia, the Federal Republic of Central America, the United Mexican States, and Peru. The ostensible intention was to form a league that could prevent foreign expansionism. The Congress conclusions, however, were not ratified by the participants, soon after, both Gran Colombia and the United Provinces of Central America fell apart and the whole of Hispanic America was balkanized by competing national governments. By the 1990s, however, Brazil had consolidated as the most powerful country in South America, the project did not take hold until the United States foreign policy priorities turned to other regions in the 2000s. The complete integration between the Andean Community and the Mercosur nations was formalized during the meeting of South American heads of state took place on 23 May 2008 in Brasília. Panama and Mexico were present as observers, the leaders announced the intention of modeling the new community in the mold of the European Union, including a unified passport, a parliament and, eventually, a single currency. The then Secretary General of the Andean Community Allan Wagner speculated that a union such as the EU should be possible within the next fifteen years. S. A. Would be easily confused for the United States of America, in the press, the phrase United States of South America was bandied about as an analogy to the United States to reflect the economic and political power that the union would have on the world stage. The name was changed on 16 April 2007 to Union of South American Nations. The new name was agreed by all member states during the first day of meeting at the First South American Energy Summit, held at Isla Margarita. At the moment, the structure of the UNASUR is as follows, A permanent Secretariat is to be established in Quito. The Secretary General, with a mandate, is to be elected on a consensual basis among the Heads of State of the member states

Union of South American Nations
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Headquarters of UNASUR
Union of South American Nations
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Union of South American Nations
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Néstor Kirchner, UNASUR's first Secretary General.
Union of South American Nations
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Extraordinary meeting of heads of state and the UNASUR government held in Brasília.

71.
Trinidad and Tobago passport
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All Trinidad and Tobago passports are issued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are valid for a period of ten years for adults, and five years for children under 16. The passport is a Caricom passport as Trinidad and Tobago is a member of the Caribbean Community, in 2007, a new machine-readable passport was launched by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to replace the existing passport. The new passport features the Caribbean Community logo along with changes to the images adorned on it. According to the 2013 Visa Restrictions Index, the Trinidad and Tobago passport was ranked no.39 in travel freedom, Trinidad and Tobago was placed after Barbados and Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua & Barbuda in the English speaking Caribbean. The Trinidad and Tobago passport also ranks 4th among CARICOM passport holders that enjoy travel freedom and visa-free access. One can apply for a Trinidad and Tobago passport if you are a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago by either, Birth, alteration, addition or mutilation of entries is prohibited by law. Any unofficial change will render the passport invalid, Visa requirements for Trinidad and Tobago citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the Trinidad and Tobago. Effective 28 May 2015, Trinidad and Tobago citizens gained visa-free access to Schengen Area, as a result, the Trinidad and Tobago passport gives visa free or visa on arrival access to 141 countries and territories. Persons who obtained Trinidad and Tobago citizenship through naturalization and are eligible in obtaining a Trinidad, the Oath of Citizenship or officially Oath of Allegiance, is a statement recited by individuals wishing to become citizens of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Individuals who wish to become a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago do so through the Ministry of National Securitys Citizenship, the Oath of Allegiance is a mandatory step to becoming a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. The Oath is preceded by an interview with a Chief Immigration Officer who determines whether an individual qualifies for Trinidad, following the Oath, an individual receives his or her Certificate of Citizenship confirming Trinidad and Tobago citizenship. The Oath of Allegiance is different from that of the National Pledge, the Oath of Allegiance is a legally binding contract intended to complete the process of obtaining Trinidad and Tobago citizenship. It also outlines the responsibilities of being a Trinidad and Tobago citizen as expressed by the laws of the nation

72.
Antigua and Barbuda
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Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands. The permanent population numbers about 81,800 and the capital and largest port and city is St. Johns, on Antigua. Separated by a few miles, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles. The countrys name was given by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after discovering the island, the country is nicknamed Land of 365 Beaches due to the many beaches surrounding the islands. Its governance, language, and culture have all been influenced by the British Empire. Antigua is Spanish for ancient and Barbuda is Spanish for bearded, the island of Antigua, originally called Waladli by Arawaks, is today called Wadadli by locals. Christopher Columbus, while sailing by in 1493 may have named it Santa Maria la Antigua, Antigua was first settled by archaic age hunter-gatherer Amerindians called the Siboney or Ciboney. Carbon dating has established the earliest settlements started around 3100 BC and they were succeeded by the ceramic age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River. The Arawaks introduced agriculture, raising, among crops, the famous Antigua black pineapple, corn, sweet potatoes, chiles, guava, tobacco. The indigenous West Indians made excellent seagoing vessels which used to sail around on the Atlantic. As a result, Caribs and Arawaks were able to much of South America. Their descendants still live there, notably in Brazil, Venezuela, most Arawaks left Antigua around 1100 AD, those who remained were later raided by the Caribs. The Catholic Encyclopedia makes it clear that the European invaders had difficulty differentiating between the groups of the native peoples they encountered. As a result, the number and types of groups in existence at that time may have been much more varied. European and African diseases, malnutrition, and slavery eventually killed most of the Caribbeans native population, smallpox was probably the greatest killer. Some historians believe that the stress of slavery may also have played a part in the massive number of deaths amongst enslaved natives. Others believe the reportedly abundant but starchy, low-protein diet may have contributed to their severe malnutrition as they were used to a diet fortified with protein from the sea, the Spaniards did not colonise Antigua because it lacked fresh water but not aggressive Caribs

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Downtown St. John's on Antigua.
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St. John's parish on Antigua.
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A proportional representation of Antigua and Barbuda's exports.

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Dominica
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Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is a sovereign island country. The capital, Roseau, is located on the side of the island. It is part of the Windward islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, the island lies south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its area is 750 square kilometres and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, the population was 72,301 at the 2014 census. Great Britain took it over in 1763 after the Seven Years War, the island republic gained independence in 1978. Its name is pronounced with emphasis on the syllable, related to its French name of Dominique. Dominica has been nicknamed the Nature Isle of the Caribbean for its natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, the island has lush mountainous rainforests, and is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the coastal regions. The Sisserou parrot, also known as the amazon and found only on Dominica, is the islands national bird. Dominicas economy depends on tourism and agriculture, the precolonial inhabitants were the Island Caribs. The name comes from the Latin word dies Dominica for Sunday and its pre-Columbian name by the Caribs was Wai‘tu kubuli, which means Tall is her body. Spain had little success in colonising Dominica, in 1632, the French Compagnie des Îles de lAmérique claimed it and other Petite Antilles for France, but no physical occupation took place. Between 1642 and 1650, French missionary Raymond Breton became the first regular European visitor to the island, in 1660, the French and English agreed that Dominica and St. Vincent should not be settled, but left to the Caribs as neutral territory. But its natural resources attracted expeditions of English and French foresters, in 1690, the French established their first permanent settlements. French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe began to set up camps to supply the French islands with wood. They brought the first enslaved people from West Africa to Dominique, in 1715, a revolt of poor white smallholders in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé, caused many to migrate to southern Dominique where they set up smallholdings. Meanwhile, French families and others from Guadeloupe settled in the north, already installed in Martinique and Guadeloupe and cultivating sugarcane, the French gradually developed plantations in Dominique for coffee

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A linen market in 1770s Dominica
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Dominica is an island in the Eastern Caribbean Sea, located about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south)
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Calibishie beach landscape

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Grenada
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Grenada is an island country consisting of Grenada itself and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent, Grenada is also known as the Island of Spice because of the production of nutmeg and mace crops, of which it is one of the worlds largest exporters. Its size is 344 square kilometres, with a population of 110,000. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada dove, before the arrival of Europeans, Grenada was inhabited by indigenous Arawaks and, subsequently, Island Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted Grenada in 1498 during his voyage to the Americas. Although it was deemed the property of the King of Spain, French settlement and colonisation began in 1650 and continued for the next century. On 10 February 1763 Grenada was ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris, British rule continued, except for a period of French rule between 1779 and 1783, until 1974. From 1958 to 1962 Grenada was part of the Federation of the West Indies, on March 3,1967, Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs as an Associated State. Herbert Blaize was the first Premier of the Associated State of Grenada from March to August 1967, Eric Gairy served as Premier from August 1967 until February 1974. Independence was granted on February 7,1974, under the leadership of Eric Gairy, Bishop was later freed by popular demonstration and attempted to resume power, but was captured and executed by soldiers. On October 25,1983, combined forces from the United States, the invasion was highly criticised by the governments of Britain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada, along with the United Nations General Assembly. Elections were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party under Herbert Blaize who served as minister until his death in December 1989. On September 7,2004, after being hurricane-free for 49 years, the island was hit by Hurricane Ivan. On July 14,2005, Hurricane Emily struck the northern part of the island, the origin of the name Grenada is obscure, but it is likely that Spanish sailors renamed the island for the city of Granada. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name Grenada, on his third voyage to the region in 1498, Christopher Columbus sighted Grenada and named it La Concepción in honour of the Virgin Mary. It is said that he may have named it Assumpción. However, history has accepted that it was Tobago he named Assumpción, in 1499, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci travelled through the region with the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda and mapmaker Juan de la Cosa. Vespucci is reported to have renamed the island Mayo, which is how it appeared on maps for around the next 20 years, in the 1520s the Spanish named the islands to the north of Mayo as Los Granadillos, presumably after the mainland Spanish town

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Jamaica
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Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island,10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, Jamaica is the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean, by area. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish imported African slaves as labourers. Named Santiago, the island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British imported Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations, the island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, Kingston is the countrys capital and largest city, with a population of 937,700. Jamaicans predominately have African ancestry, with significant European, Chinese, Hakka, Indian, due to a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, an office held by Sir Patrick Allen since 2009. Andrew Holness has served as the head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2016, the indigenous people, the Taíno, called it Xaymaca in Arawakan, meaning the Land of Wood and Water or the Land of Springs. Colloquially Jamaicans refer to their island as the Rock. Slang names such as Jamrock, Jamdown, or briefly Ja, have derived from this, the Arawak and Taíno indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by caciques, the south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour. The Taino still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655, the Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawak. Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay, although there is some debate that it might have been St. Anns Bay. St. Anns Bay was named Saint Gloria by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land, the capital was moved to Spanish Town, then called St. Jago de la Vega, around 1534. Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the British colonies in the Caribbean, the Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. In 1655, the English, led by Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables, the English continued to import African slaves as labourers

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Saint Lucia
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Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and it covers a land area of 617 km2 and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. The French were the islands first European settlers and they signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667, in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times, and rule of the island changed frequently. In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island, because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the Helen of the West Indies. Representative government came about in 1840, from 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom, Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both the civil law and English common law. The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866 and it is also a member of La Francophonie. One of the Windward Islands, Saint Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the islands first European settlers, the French pirate François le Clerc frequently visited Saint Lucia in the 1550s. It was not until around 1600 that the first European camp was started by the Dutch at what is now Vieux Fort, in 1605 an English vessel called the Olive Branch was blown off-course on its way to Guyana, and the 67 colonists started a settlement on Saint Lucia. After five weeks only 19 survived due to disease and conflict with the Caribs, the French officially claimed the island in 1635. The English attempted the next European settlement in 1639, and that too was wiped out by Caribs, in 1643 a French expedition sent out from Martinique established a permanent settlement on the island. De Rousselan was appointed the governor, took a Carib wife. In 1664, Thomas Warner claimed Saint Lucia for England and he brought 1,000 men to defend it from the French, but after two years, only 89 survived with the rest dying mostly due to disease. In 1666 the French West India Company resumed control of the island, in 1722, George I of Great Britain granted both Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent to The 2nd Duke of Montagu. He in turn appointed Nathaniel Uring, a merchant sea captain and adventurer, Uring went to the islands with a group of seven ships, and established settlement at Petit Carenage. Unable to get support from British warships, he and the new colonists were quickly run off by the French. During the Seven Years War Britain occupied Saint Lucia for a year, Britain handed the island back to the French at the Treaty of Paris in 1763

77.
Suriname
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Suriname, officially known as the Republic of Suriname, is a sovereign state on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, at just under 165,000 square kilometers, it is the smallest country in South America. Suriname has a population of approximately 566,000, most of live on the countrys north coast, in and around the capital and largest city. Long inhabited by cultures of indigenous tribes, Suriname was explored and contested by European powers before coming under Dutch rule in the late 17th century. In 1954, the country one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its indigenous peoples have been active in claiming land rights and working to preserve their traditional lands. Suriname is considered to be a culturally Caribbean country, and is a member of the Caribbean Community, while Dutch is the official language of government, business, media, and education, Sranan, an English-based creole language, is a widely used lingua franca. Suriname is the territory outside Europe where Dutch is spoken by a majority of the population. The people of Suriname are among the most diverse in the world, spanning a multitude of ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups. This area was occupied by cultures of indigenous peoples long before European contact, remnants of which can be found in petroglyph sites at Werehpai. The name Suriname may derive from a Taino indigenous people called Surinen, British settlers, who founded the first European colony at Marshalls Creek along the Suriname River, spelled the name as Surinam. When the territory was taken over by the Dutch, it part of a group of colonies known as Dutch Guiana. The official spelling of the countrys English name was changed from Surinam to Suriname in January 1978, a notable example is Surinames national airline, Surinam Airways. The older English name is reflected in the English pronunciation, /ˈsʊrᵻnæm/ or /ˈsʊrᵻnɑːm/, in Dutch, the official language of Suriname, the pronunciation is, with the main stress on the third syllable and a schwa terminal vowel. Indigenous settlement of Suriname dates back to 3,000 BC, the largest tribes were the Arawak, a nomadic coastal tribe that lived from hunting and fishing. They were the first inhabitants in the area, the Carib also settled in the area and conquered the Arawak by using their superior sailing ships. They settled in Galibi at the mouth of the Marowijne River, while the larger Arawak and Carib tribes lived along the coast and savanna, smaller groups of indigenous peoples lived in the inland rainforest, such as the Akurio, Trió, Warrau, and Wayana. Beginning in the 16th century, French, Spanish, and English explorers visited the area, a century later, Dutch and English settlers established plantation colonies along the many rivers in the fertile Guiana plains

78.
Trinidad and Tobago
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During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers, more times than any other island in the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens, the country Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Trinidad and Tobago is the third richest country by GDP per capita in the Americas after the United States, furthermore, it is recognised as a high-income economy by the World Bank. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, the economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum. The countrys wealth is attributed to its reserves and exploitation of oil. Historian E. L. Joseph claimed that Trinidads Amerindian name was Iere or Land of the Humming Bird, derived from the Arawak name for hummingbird, however, Boomert claims that neither cairi nor caeri means hummingbird and tukusi or tucuchi does. Others have reported that kairi and iere simply mean island, christopher Columbus renamed it La Isla de la Trinidad, fulfilling a vow made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. Trinidad and Tobago are islands situated between 10°2 and 11°12 N latitude and 60°30 and 61°56 W longitude, at the closest point, Trinidad is just 11 kilometres from Venezuelan territory. Trinidad is 4,768 km2 in area with a length of 80 km. Tobago has an area of about 300 km2, or 5. 8% of the area, is 41 km long and 12 km at its greatest width. Trinidad and Tobago lie on the shelf of South America. The terrain of the islands is a mixture of mountains and plains, the highest point in the country is found on the Northern Range at El Cerro del Aripo, which is 940 metres above sea level. As the majority of the live in the island of Trinidad. There are four municipalities in Trinidad, Port of Spain. The main town in Tobago is Scarborough, Trinidad is made up of a variety of soil types, the majority being fine sands and heavy clays. The alluvial valleys of the Northern Range and the soils of the East-West Corridor are the most fertile, the Northern Range consists mainly of Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous metamorphic rocks. The Northern Lowlands consist of shallow marine clastic sediments. South of this, the Central Range fold and thrust belt consists of Cretaceous and Eocene sedimentary rocks, the Naparima Plains and the Nariva Swamp form the southern shoulder of this uplift

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Mayaro Beach in the south-eastern area of Trinidad.
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Pigeon Point in Tobago, one of the top tourist destinations in the country.
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Parlatuvier Bay, a popular tourist destination in Tobago.

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Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’

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Founded in 44 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, Augusta Raurica was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.
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The 1291 Bundesbrief (Federal charter)
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The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colors are shown the subject territories.

80.
ICAO
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The International Civil Aviation Organization, is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of air transport to ensure safe. Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Air Navigation Commission is the body within ICAO. The Commission is composed of 19 Commissioners, nominated by the ICAOs contracting states, Commissioners serve as independent experts, who although nominated by their states, do not serve as state or political representatives. The development of Aviation Standards and Recommended Practices is done under the direction of the ANC through the process of ICAO Panels. Once approved by the Commission, standards are sent to the Council, the forerunner to ICAO was the International Commission for Air Navigation. It held its first convention in 1903 in Berlin, Germany, at the second convention in 1906, also held in Berlin,27 countries attended. The third convention, held in London in 1912 allocated the first radio callsigns for use by aircraft, ICAN continued to operate until 1945. Fifty-two countries signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, in Chicago, Illinois, on 7 December 1944. Under its terms, a Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization was to be established, accordingly, PICAO began operating on 6 June 1945, replacing ICAN. The 26th country ratified the Convention on 5 March 1947 and, consequently PICAO was disestablished on 4 April 1947 and replaced by ICAO, in October 1947, ICAO became an agency of the United Nations linked to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. In April 2013 Qatar offered to serve as the new permanent seat of the Organization, according to the Globe and Mail, Qatars move was at least partly motivated by the pro-Israel foreign policy of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Approximately one month later, Qatar withdrew its bid after a proposal to the ICAOs governing council to move the ICAO triennial conference to Doha was defeated by a vote of 22–14. The 9th edition of the Convention on International Civil Aviation includes modifications from 1948 up to year 2006, ICAO refers to its current edition of the Convention as the Statute, and designates it as ICAO Document 7300/9. The Convention has 19 Annexes that are listed by title in the article Convention on International Civil Aviation, as of March 2016, there are 191 ICAO members, consisting of 190 of the 193 UN members, plus the Cook Islands. Liechtenstein has delegated Switzerland to implement the treaty to make it applicable in the territory of Liechtenstein, Taiwan attended the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly in 2013, but in 2016 was denied such an invitation, despite expressions of support from the United States for Taiwan to participate. However, the Republic of China under the name of Chinese Taipei is a member of International Air Transport Association, the Council of ICAO is elected by the Assembly every 3 years and consists of 36 members elected in 3 categories

81.
Welsh language
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Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army

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This tattered Welsh Bible of 1620, in Llanwnda church, is said to have been rescued from the hands of French invaders in 1797.
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The 1588 Welsh Bible
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Trilingual (Spanish, Welsh and English) sign in Argentina

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Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland

83.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them

84.
Cypriot passport
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Cypriot passport are issued to citizens of Cyprus for the purpose of international travel. Every Cypriot citizen is also a citizen of the European Union, the passport, along with the national identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union and European Economic Area. According to the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index, Cypriot citizens can visit 159 countries without a visa or with a visa granted on arrival, thus ranking the Cypriot passport 17th in the world. Cypriot citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement, the Civil Registry and Immigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for issuing and renewing Cypriot passports. Turkish Cypriots may obtain Cypriot passports and ID cards if they can prove their descent from a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus, turkish settlers in the northern part of Cyprus are not entitled to Cypriot citizenship. Biometric passports have been issued since 13 December 2010 and include text in all languages of the European Union. They carry a microchip containing biometric data such as fingerprints, a photograph. Inside, on different pages, there are images of a statue of the goddess Aphrodite on display at the Cyprus Museum, a dove carrying a branch, the Cypriot mouflon. Visa requirements for Cypriot citizens Passports of the European Union Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index

Cypriot passport
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Cypriot British passport (pre-1960)

85.
Macau SAR passport
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The Macao Special Administrative Region passport, also known as the Macau Special Administrative Region passport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Macau. The official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Chinese, consequently, all the text is in traditional Chinese characters, Portuguese. The colour of the Macau SAR passport cover is green with the National Emblem of the Peoples Republic of China emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. Besides personal data, the page of passport is printed with the picture. Macau SAR passports are issued by the Direcção dos Serviços de Identificação in Macau. Macau SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card, two recent 1½-inch colour photos, the original of Macau SAR Passport are generally required to submit with an application form, qualified applicants can apply in Macau or overseas, if necessary. The issuance is entirely at the discretion of the MPS, Macao residents who travel to the mainland from a third country without Home Return Permit may obtain Chinese Travel Document from the overseas Chinese embassies or consulates prior to travel. Regardless of their status, Macau permanent residents do not need passports to enter Hong Kong. Instead, residents must bring their permanent ID card, which grants 180-day visa free access to Hong Kong, in Croatia, Macao SAR passport holders are permitted to undertake a paid activity visa-free for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. Macau SAR passport holders aged between 18 and 30 are eligible to apply under the Working Holiday Scheme by the New Zealand Government, the scheme is highly competitive as there is a quota of 1000 visas issued annually to all Chinese nationals from both China and Macau. As Chinese citizens, holders of a Macau Special Administrative Region passport are entitled to consular protection by Chinese foreign missions abroad. On 10 April 2013, the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, announced that, starting from 2015, the three passports were permanently included in the list of eligible nationalities in June 2016. The Identification Services Bureau of the Macau SAR Government has been issuing e-passports and e-travel-permits since September 1,2009, the design of Macaus world culture heritage sites are incorporated and watermarked onto the visa pages of MSAR e-passports. Visa policy of Macau Visa requirements for Chinese citizens of Macau Macau SAR Identification Department Macau SAR Government Portal

86.
New Zealand passport
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New Zealand passports are issued to New Zealand citizens for the purpose of international travel by the Department of Internal Affairs. New Zealand has a passport possession rate of around 75% of the population and it is ranked as one of the most powerful passports in the world. Few countries required passports before the First World War, and they were not then usually required for overseas travel, by 1900 there were occasional requests for New Zealand passports, which were personally signed by the Governor. In 1905 MP George Fowlds decided to return to Scotland for his father’s 100th birthday and he decided he needed a passport when his ship was about to leave, an inconvenience both for the department and the Governor who had to sign it. A single passport covered a man and his wife and children, in the First World War the British Government required passports in 1915, and New Zealand followed from November 1915, with an increased workload for the department and for police. 1,108 passports had been issued in 1909, but 6,000 were issued in the nine months from 15 November 1915 to 21 August 1916. The number was high by civilian travel after the war, over 4,300 in 1921. The number then fell from 4,722 in 1930 to 2,455 for the year ended 31 March 1934, in 1950 the number of passports issued topped ten thousand, twice as many as were issued in 1939. Between 1948 and 1977, New Zealand passports bore the words New Zealand citizen, in 1992, the Department of Internal Affairs started issuing machine-readable passports in New Zealand, whilst New Zealand overseas posts continued to issue manual passports. Since 24 February 1992, childrens names have no longer been endorsed in the passports of their parents, in February 1997, the New Zealand High Commission in London began issuing machine readable passports. In 2001, the Department of Internal Affairs took over responsibility for the London Passport Office from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by 2003, only around 4% of all New Zealand passport holders still held a non-machine readable version. From this date onwards, all New Zealand citizens applying for a passport overseas have had to send their application to the Passport Office in New Zealand and it also meant that all New Zealand passports issued on or after 26 October 2004 were machine-readable. Remaining non-machine readable New Zealand passports were valid and expired by 25 October 2014 at the latest. On 4 November 2005, the Department of Internal Affairs began issuing New Zealand biometric passports, in order to cover the higher costs associated with the production of biometric passports, the application cost increased from NZ$71 to NZ$150 for adults and from NZ$36 to NZ$80 for children. All passports issued from 24 April 2005 to 29 November 2015 - both adult and child - have a passport validity of five years as a result of the Passports Amendment Act. Passports that were issued prior to 24 April 2005 remained valid until the date of expiry as stated on the biodata page. From 24 April 2005, New Zealand passports were no longer endorsed with name changes, one of the motivations for a new passport design was to ensure that it would remain difficult to produce counterfeit New Zealand passports. Unlike the previous biometric passport, photographs on the page are now laser engraved in black

New Zealand passport
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Design of the biodata page
New Zealand passport
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Interior of the first type of photo I.D New Zealand passport. This fold-out sort was replaced by the familiar booklet form around 1923, some time after the type had been phased out in most other parts of the British Empire.
New Zealand passport
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New Zealand passport issued in 1949
New Zealand passport
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Third type of New Zealand passport which superseded the 'Dominion of New Zealand' type 2. Used through the 1950s and 1960s and replaced in 1973.

87.
Nynorsk
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Nynorsk, literally New Norwegian or New Norse, is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 1885, when the parliament declared them official and equal, until new voting in 1929, the official standard of Nynorsk has since been significantly altered. A minor purist fraction of the Nynorsk populace has stayed firm with the Aasen norm, in local communities, one-fourth of Norwegian municipalities have declared Nynorsk as their official language form, and these municipalities account for about 12% of the Norwegian populace. Of the remaining municipalities, half are neutral and half have adopted Bokmål as their official language form, four of Norways nineteen counties, Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, have Nynorsk as their official language form. These four together comprise the region of Western Norway, the word Nynorsk also has another meaning. Nynorsk was the written Norwegian in use until it died out in the early 1600s during the period of Danish rule, a major source of old written material is Diplomatarium Norvegicum in 22 printed volumes. Written Nynorsk is found in all the types of places. Bokmål has, however, a larger basis in the cities. Most Norwegians do not speak either Nynorsk or Bokmål as written, Nynorsk shares many of the problems that minority languages face. In Norway, each municipality and county can choose to one of the two languages as its official language, or it can remain language neutral. As of 2015, 26% of the 428 municipalities have declared Nynorsk as their language, while 36% have chosen Bokmål and another 36% are neutral. At least 128 of the municipalities are in areas where Bokmål is the prevailing form. As for counties, three have declared Nynorsk, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, two have declared Bokmål, Østfold and Vestfold. The remaining fourteen are officially language neutral, there are few municipalities in language neutral counties that use nynorsk. The main language used in schools is decided by referendum within the local school district. The number of districts and pupils using primarily Nynorsk has decreased from its height in the 1940s. As of 2016,12. 2% of pupils in school are taught Nynorsk as their primary language. The prevailing regions for Nynorsk are the areas of the western counties of Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal

Nynorsk
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Ivar Aasen (drawing by Olav Rusti).
Nynorsk
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Map of the official language forms of Norwegian municipalities as of 2007 with Nynorsk in cyan and Bokmål in orange
Nynorsk
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The Norwegian romantic nationalism movement sought to identify and celebrate the genuinely Norwegian.

88.
Sinhalese language
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Sinhalese, known natively as Sinhala, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. Sinhalese is also spoken as a language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages, Sinhalese has its own writing system, the Sinhalese alphabet, which is one of the Brahmic scripts, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script closely related to the Kadamba alphabet. Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, along with Pali, played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The closest relative of Sinhalese is the language of the Maldives and Minicoy Island, Sinhala is a Sanskrit term, the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan word is Sīhala. The name is a derivation from siṃha, the Sanskrit word for lion Siṃhāla is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of in the Bhagavata Purana, the name is sometimes glossed as abode of lions, and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa, written in Pali, Prince Vijaya, in the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India which led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets, e. g. the words mässā and mäkkā, some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language. Sinhalese has many words that are found in Sinhalese, or shared between Sinhalese and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Common examples are kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda, dola for pig in Vedda, Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones. The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century CE, the grammar lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo, however, formal Sinhalese is more similar to Pali and medieval Sinhalese. g. I do not know whether it is new, as a result of centuries of colonial rule, modern Sinhalese contains some Portuguese, Dutch and English loanwords. It is now spoken by a few families in Macau and in the Macanese diaspora, Sinhalese shares many features common to other Indo-European languages. For native speakers all dialects are mutually intelligible, and they might not even realise that the differences are significant, the language of the Vedda people resembles Sinhala to a great extent, although it has a large number of words which cannot be traced to another language. The Rodiya use another dialect of Sinhalese, Rodiya used to be a caste in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka no longer recognizes castes, in Sinhalese there is distinctive diglossia, as in many languages of South Asia

Sinhalese language
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Sinhalese

89.
Tamil language
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Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter

90.
Swiss passport
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A Swiss passport is the passport issued to citizens of Switzerland to facilitate international travel. For traveling inside almost all of Europe, Swiss citizens can use an identity card, the first Swiss passports were issued in 1915. Those were not yet in the red colour, but were bound in a grey-green cover. The famous red Swiss passport was created in 1959, until 1985 the Swiss passport was only printed in the national languages of the time, French, German, Italian, English was included in addition to the aforementioned national languages. Romansh was added in the later Pass 85 after it was declared the fourth Swiss national language following a referendum, the ordering of the languages was then changed to German, French, Italian, Romansh and English. The Swiss passport is red in colour and raised Swiss crosses on the outside cover, on the cover in the right upper corner are the words «Schweizer Pass», «Passeport suisse», «Passaporto svizzero», «Passaport svizzer» and «Swiss passport». Immediately below the writing there is a white Swiss cross, the Pass 06 and Pass 10 respectively issued in 2006 and 2010 additionally feature the biometric symbol on the right lower side of the cover. The new Swiss passports contain 40 pages instead of the previous 32, for foreign visas and official stamps there are 37 pages provided. The first page is used for the bearer to sign the passport and beneath it is the 11th field, on the 2nd page there are the translations of the information page into 13 languages and 26 respectively. Within the incomplete Swiss cross in the registration, there is tiny micro printing with the name of the Canton. This can only be read with a glass, or microsope. Since 15 February 2010, non-biometric passports are no longer delivered, from 1 March 2010 and according to the Schengen Agreement, Swiss passports will all be biometric. This will ensure that travel to the United States will remain visa-free, the standard biometric symbol is placed on the bottom right hand side. A Swiss passport includes the data on the full plastic information page Photo of the passport bearer Type of Passport Code Passport No. The transcription mentioned above is used for airplane tickets etc. Signature affixed by the bearer 11 Official observations The data page/information page is printed in the four Swiss national languages, German, French, Italian, (except for the last cover page where certain Information for Swiss citizens is only in the four official languages. On page 2 there are translations into 13 languages, therefore, the Swiss passport Pass10 contains 26 languages on page 2 which surpasses the EUs own passports with 23 languages. On the back cover of the Swiss passport Pass10 contains the sentence in 26 languages, since 1 March 2010 the Swiss passport Pass 10 contains biometric information, a photograph and fingerprints

91.
Romansh language
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Romansh has also been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938 and as an official language along with German, French and Italian since 1996. It is sometimes grouped with Ladin and Friulian as a Rhaeto-Romance language, Romansh has also been heavily influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax. The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced by Alemannic, the earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works do not appear until the 16th century when several regional written varieties began to develop. The 19th century saw a shrinkage of the language area but also a literary revival. In the 2000 Swiss census,35,095 people indicated Romansh as the language of best command, in 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system which uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. Based on this system, the number of people aged 15. The language area and number of speakers of Romansh have been continually shrinking, Romansh is divided into five different regional dialects, each with its own standardized written language. In addition, a variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982. Romansh is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. Within the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location, another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German, which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes such as French, Occitan. The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin /u/ to or, as seen in Latin muru wall, which is mür or mir in Romansh. This sound change is partially absent in some varieties of Romansh, however, especially in Sursilvan, retention of word-final -s as in buns chavals good horses as opposed to Italian buoni cavalli. Retention of L following /p b k ɡ f/, Latin clavem key > clav as opposed to Italian chiave, another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. Whether or not Romansh, Friulan and Ladin should compose a separate Rhaeto-Romance subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was then fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. This position goes back to the Italian linguist Graziadio Ascoli, who first made the claim in 1873, linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti and this linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement. Italian nationalists interpreted Battistis hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan and Ladin were not separate languages and they used this as an argument to claim the territories where these languages were spoken for Italy

92.
Passport stamp
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A passport stamp is a rubber stamp inked impression received in ones passport upon entering or exiting a country. Passport stamps may occasionally take the form of stamps, such as entry stamps from Japan. Depending on nationality, a visitor may not receive a stamp, most countries issue exit stamps in addition to entry stamps. A few countries issue only entry stamps, including Australia, Canada, United States, New Zealand, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba and Israel, do not stamp passports upon entry nor exit, but issue landing slips instead. Visas may also take the form of passport stamps, Immigration authorities usually place stamps in passports at a port of entry or border crossing, as part of their immigration control or customs procedures. This endorsement can serve different purposes. In the United Kingdom the immigration stamp in the passport includes the formal leave to enter granted on entry to the country to a person who is subject to immigration control, alternatively, the stamps activates and/or acknowledges the continuing leave conferred in the individuals entry clearance. In Japan, the passport entry sticker also contains a QR code that allows the official to electronically collect information related to that entry. Most countries have different stamps for arrivals and departures to make it easier for officers to identify the movements of the person concerned. The colour of the ink or the style of stamp may also provide such information, Entry and exit stamps are sealed on passports for all citizens upon arrival at or departure from Bangladesh. The same is the case for foreigners, except that the number is given on entry. The stamps are always in black except the date, which is in red. The stamps contain an arrow exiting a door to denote departure or an arrow entering a door for arrival on the top corner. Rectangular stamps for entry and oval stamps for exit make it easier to trace movements. The Hong Kong Immigration Department used to stamp the passports of visitors entering and leaving Hong Kong, just prior to and after the 1997 transfer of sovereignty from the UK to the Peoples Republic of China, arrival and departure stamps were identical at all ports of entry. For the next 15 years or so, the ink colour of the stamp differentiated the administrative division of the point of entry, Stamps issued within Kowloon are in green ink. Stamps issued within Hong Kong Island are in purple ink, Stamps issued within Islands District are in black ink. Beginning 19 March 2013, landing slips are issued to visitors on arrival in Hong Kong instead of passport stamps, However, in exceptional circumstances, stamps may still be applied

93.
Bangladeshi passport
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The Bangladeshi Passport is issued to the citizens of Bangladesh for international travel. The passport is issued by the Government of The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh or by any of its overseas missions to the Bangladeshi citizens who are citizens by birth or by descent. The passport of Bangladesh is valid in all countries of the world except Israel, the Bangladesh Government has implemented a project to replace 6.6 million Bangladeshi passports with new machine-readable passports. According to a guideline of the International Civil Aviation Organization Machine-readable Passport, however, all traditional non-MR passports will be honoured as a bona fide travel document issued by the Bangladesh Government until it expires. All traditional non-MR passports must be withdrawn from circulation by November 2015, Machine-readable passports for Bangladesh are produced by Polish Security Printing Works. The Bangladesh Government will set up 85 new passport offices and 6 visa cells at home and abroad for issuing Machine Readable Passports, for non-resident Bangladeshis,66 passport offices will be set up at 66 Bangladesh Missions and Consulates abroad, who will issue the Machine-readable Passports. The replacement of all of the passports will take almost 3 years, paper application or Online application A Bangladeshi citizen may hold any of the following three types of passports. This is the most common type of passport, any citizen of Bangladesh may possess a Regular or a Business passport for international travel. Any age of Children travelling also requires a passport and may not be able to travel with their parents passport, the maximum validity period of a business or regular passport is 5 years, which can be 10 years as well in some cases. Government Officials of Bangladesh are entitled to receive this type of passport, Official passports are identified by a blue stamp on the first page that reads Official. This type of passport can only be held by Bangladeshi citizens who are members or staffs of the diplomatic community, in addition, the members of parliament receive this type of privileged passport. This passport provides visa free access to countries than the official passport. Diplomatic passports can be identified by their red cover which sets them apart from the green-coloured regular, business. In August 2012, it was discovered that up to 6,000 MRPs were invalid through Immigration Headquarters in Agargaon, over 100,000 passports were made invalid by the Department of Immigration and Passports. By order of the President of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Information about the holder are spread across seven or more pages in the contemporary Bangladesh passport. The field names are written in Bengali and English, with the values is written in English only. No information regarding gender or faith are required, the inside cover of a machine-readable Bangladeshi passport has an embossed image of the National Monument, with the national anthem of Bangladesh written in Bengali and English. The first page contains the Presidents declaration in Bengali and English, the second page is the main data page

Bangladeshi passport
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The front cover of a contemporary Bangladeshi passport.
Bangladeshi passport
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British Indian passport issued during the colonial days, when Bangladesh was part of British India
Bangladeshi passport
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Inside cover of the old hand-written Bangladesh passport
Bangladeshi passport
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Bangladesh passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel

94.
Israeli passport
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The Israeli passport is a travel document issued to Israeli citizens to enable them to travel outside Israel, and entitles the bearer to the protection of Israels consular officials overseas. According to the 2017 Visa Restrictions Index, Israeli citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 148 countries and territories, Israeli citizens are allowed to hold passports of other countries, but are required to use the Israeli passport when entering and leaving Israel. This regulation was introduced officially in 2002, after having been contested on several occasions. Israeli passports began to be issued in 1948, after the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14,1948, the first travel document was issued to Golda Meir, who at the time worked for the Jewish Agency and was soon to become Israels ambassador to the USSR. The first Israeli passports bore the limitation, Valid to any country except Germany, an Israeli citizen who wished to visit Germany had to ask that the words except Germany be deleted from their passport. This was done manually by drawing a line through these words, after the signing of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany in 1952, the limitation was withdrawn and passports became valid to all countries. On 30 March 1980, new regulations issued by the Minister of the Interior required Israeli passports to use Hebrew and English, instead of Hebrew, subsequently, French texts were replaced by English texts. In 2006, an Israeli passport became accepted for identification in general elections, until then, only an internal identity card was accepted for this purpose. Denial or withdrawal of an Israeli passport is one of the sanctions an Israeli rabbinical court may use to enforce divorce upon a husband who chains his wife into marriage against her will. Since 2013, biometric passports have being introduced, in line with standards used by the United States, European Union, one will also be fingerprinted and all this information will be contained in the new high-tech electronic passport. Israeli passports are blue, with the Israeli emblem in the center of the front cover, below the words מדינת ישראל and STATE OF ISRAEL in Hebrew. The word דרכון and PASSPORT is inscribed below the emblem in Hebrew, the inner pages are decorated with the Israeli emblem of olive branches and the seven-branched menorah. The regular passport contains 32 pages, and the passport contains 64 pages. Israeli passports are valid for up to 10 years for persons over the age of 18 and they are bilingual, using Hebrew and English. Since Hebrew is written right to left, the passports are opened from their right end. Arabic is not used in Israeli passports, even though it is one of the two languages of Israel, and is used in internal identity cards. Israeli passport information appears on page 2, and includes the following, the information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone. Signature of bearer is to follow on page 3, do not add or delete any information in the passport, tear out a page or pages from it, or destroy or corrupt the passport

95.
Taiwan passport
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The Republic of China passport is the passport issued to nationals of the Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan. The passport is commonly referred as Taiwan passport or Taiwanese passport, the status and international recognition of the ROC passport is complicated due to the political status of Taiwan. Countries granting visa-free privileges to Taiwan passport holders require a National ID number imprinted on the passports biodata page. Taiwanese passport is one of the five passports with the most improved rating globally since 2006 in terms of number of countries that its holders may visit without a visa. The current ROC biometric passport has been issued since December 29,2008, the cover of the ordinary ROC passport is dark green, with the ROC national emblem – Blue Sky with a White Sun - in the middle. On the top is the name of the country, REPUBLIC OF CHINA. Below the national emblem the words TAIWAN was printed in English only, at the bottom is the symbol of biometric passport. Cover of the passport is brown and shows OFFICIAL PASSPORT on the cover. Personal biodata page information for the holder and the machine readable zone are listed below. The biodata page is protected by a plastic anti-counterfeiting layer with laser holograms of the country code TWN and broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly, the inner pages of a Taiwan passport are in light purple. A contactless biometric chip is embedded in the cover page. For best performance, please do not bend, twist, perforate or staple the passport, neither expose it to direct sunlight, extreme temperature or humidity. Avoid electro-magnetic fields or chemical substance, validity period, Starting from May 21,2000, validity period for an ordinary passport is generally 10 years and 1 day. For applicant aged under 15 is 5 years, for the male citizens who have not complete his conscription duty is 3 years. Application fee, Effective since January 1,2013, the fee for a 10-year passport is NT$1,300. In comparison, the cost of manufacturing a passport is NT$1,361, due to mandatory military service for men, travel restrictions are placed on male citizens from the age of 15 until they have completed their military service. In Traditional Chinese, 持照人出國應經核准，尚未履行兵役義務。 Translation, The bearer needs a permission to travel abroad and has not yet completed his military service, before travelling, the holder needs to apply for permission to travel overseas with the National Immigration Agency or the conscription administration near his residence. Permission is granted in the form of a stamp on the page, including the expiration date

Taiwan passport
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Cover of the Taiwanese biometric passport.
Taiwan passport
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Request page of a Taiwan passport.
Taiwan passport
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Old version of a Republic of China passport issued in 1982.
Taiwan passport
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The ROC passport of a national without household registration does not have an identification card number listed on its data pages in the empty spaces labelled (1).

96.
HKSAR passport
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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Passport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong. As the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, in English, the passport is sometimes referred to by its long-form name which appears on the cover. Most frequently, the Hong Kong SAR passport is known as 特區護照 – a literal translation in English would be SAR passport, the Brazilian Consulate-General in Hong Kong uses the term Hong Kong passport in reference to both the Hong Kong SAR and British National passports. The issuing of Hong Kong SAR passports began on 1 July 1997, note that acquisition of British citizenship in the British Nationality Selection Scheme itself does not affect the eligibility for a HKSAR passport. Nor does the holding of any foreign passport itself affect the eligibility for a HKSAR passport, under Hong Kong Basic Law, the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control in the territory. The Hong Kong SAR passport is issued by the Immigration Department of Hong Kong under the authorisation of the Central Peoples Government and its design is distinct from other types of Peoples Republic of China passports and the holders enjoy visa-free entry to more countries than other PRC passports. Hong Kong official travel documents prior to 1997 included the Hong Kong Certificate of Identity, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British National, after 1997, BN and BC passports are still valid but CIs and BDTC passports are no longer in use. Chinese citizenship AND Permanent residency in the Hong Kong SAR who has right of abode AND A valid Hong Kong permanent identity card, in comparison with the British National passport, the Hong Kong SAR passports application fees are lower. When applying in Hong Kong, a British National passport costs £83, in comparison with other Chinese passports, when applying from Hong Kong, the Peoples Republic of China passport costs HK$250, whilst the Macao SAR passport costs MOP$370/HK$359. Chinese citizens residing Hong Kong who are yet Hong Kong permanent residents are not eligible for this passport, Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong but less than 11 years old are not also eligible for this passport since they do not hold a permanent ID. Such persons may be issued Hong Kong Re-entry Permit in lieu of HKSAR passport, after they obtain a permanent ID, they may be issued HKSAR passport, however. In February 2007, the first ePassport was introduced, the design conforms with the document design recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The new ePassport featured in the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Event and was a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Award in the Public Administration categeory, the Hong Kong SAR ePassport design was praised on account of the multiple state-of-the-art technologies are seamlessly integrated in the sophisticated Electronic Passport System. The cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions, in 2006, the Immigration Department announced that Unihub Limited had won the tender to provide the technology to produce biometric passports. In February 2007, the first ePassport was introduced, the cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom under the word PASSPORT, however, the design of the inner pages has changed substantially. On the reverse of the identification page insert is a blue image with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region emblem in the centre. At the top is a pattern of the words 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區 HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, at the bottom is a picture of Victoria Harbour behind an outline of the Great Wall of China

HKSAR passport
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The Cover of the 1st and 2nd Versions of the HKSAR Passport (1997–2007).
HKSAR passport
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The cover of a pre-1997 British Hong Kong Passport
HKSAR passport
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Inner front cover of the ePassport
HKSAR passport
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Inner front cover of the Second Version Hong Kong SAR Passport

97.
MSAR passport
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The Macao Special Administrative Region passport, also known as the Macau Special Administrative Region passport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Macau. The official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Chinese, consequently, all the text is in traditional Chinese characters, Portuguese. The colour of the Macau SAR passport cover is green with the National Emblem of the Peoples Republic of China emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. Besides personal data, the page of passport is printed with the picture. Macau SAR passports are issued by the Direcção dos Serviços de Identificação in Macau. Macau SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card, two recent 1½-inch colour photos, the original of Macau SAR Passport are generally required to submit with an application form, qualified applicants can apply in Macau or overseas, if necessary. The issuance is entirely at the discretion of the MPS, Macao residents who travel to the mainland from a third country without Home Return Permit may obtain Chinese Travel Document from the overseas Chinese embassies or consulates prior to travel. Regardless of their status, Macau permanent residents do not need passports to enter Hong Kong. Instead, residents must bring their permanent ID card, which grants 180-day visa free access to Hong Kong, in Croatia, Macao SAR passport holders are permitted to undertake a paid activity visa-free for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. Macau SAR passport holders aged between 18 and 30 are eligible to apply under the Working Holiday Scheme by the New Zealand Government, the scheme is highly competitive as there is a quota of 1000 visas issued annually to all Chinese nationals from both China and Macau. As Chinese citizens, holders of a Macau Special Administrative Region passport are entitled to consular protection by Chinese foreign missions abroad. On 10 April 2013, the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, announced that, starting from 2015, the three passports were permanently included in the list of eligible nationalities in June 2016. The Identification Services Bureau of the Macau SAR Government has been issuing e-passports and e-travel-permits since September 1,2009, the design of Macaus world culture heritage sites are incorporated and watermarked onto the visa pages of MSAR e-passports. Visa policy of Macau Visa requirements for Chinese citizens of Macau Macau SAR Identification Department Macau SAR Government Portal

98.
BN(O) passport
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British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom which concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is due to the United Kingdoms historical status as an imperial power. Some thought the single Imperial status of British subject as increasingly inadequate to deal with a Commonwealth with independent member states. The British Nationality Act 1948 established the status of Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, the national citizenship of the United Kingdom and colonies on 1 January 1949. Until the early 1960s there was little difference, if any, in UK law between the rights of CUKCs and other British subjects, all of whom had the right at any time to enter and live in the UK. Independence Acts, passed when the colonies were granted independence. In general, these provisions withdrew the status of CUKC from anyone who became citizens of the independent country. Exceptions were sometimes made in cases where the colonies did not become independent, the principal British nationality law now in force is the British Nationality Act 1981, which established the current system of multiple categories of British nationality, viz. British citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens, British Overseas citizens, British Nationals, British subjects, only British citizens and certain Commonwealth citizens have the automatic right of abode in the UK. The 1981 Act ceased to recognise Commonwealth citizens as British subjects, British subjects connected with former British India lose British nationality if they acquire any other. There are currently six classes of British national, British citizen British citizens usually hold this status through a connection with the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. British citizenship is the most common type of British nationality, other rights can vary according to how the British citizenship was acquired. In particular there are restrictions for British citizens by descent transmitting British citizenship to children born outside the UK and these restrictions do not apply to British citizens otherwise than by descent. British Overseas Territories citizen BOTC is the form of British nationality held by connection with a British Overseas Territory and it is possible to hold BOTC and British citizenship simultaneously. Nearly all are now also British citizens as a result of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, the four residual categories are expected to become extinct with the passage of time. They can be passed to only in exceptional circumstances, e. g. if the child would otherwise be stateless. There is consequently little provision for the acquisition of these classes of nationality by people who do not already have them, British Overseas citizen In general, most BOCs are CUKCs who did not qualify for British citizenship or British Dependent Territories citizenship. This is fairly uncommon, most CUKCs lost their CUKC status upon independence, in 1997, BDTCs with a connection to Hong Kong became BOCs after they did not register as British Nationals and would become stateless after the withdrawal of BDTC status from Hong Kong residents

99.
Two-way Permit
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The Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security is responsible for the issuing of Two-way Permits and exit endorsements. The Two-way Permit is the travel document for personal visit, family reunion, business. Exceptions are Mainland residents who are transiting to or from a country or region. The design is similar to the Taiwan Compatriot Permit but the color scheme is in light blue. The personal data are directly imprinted on the front of the card while the back of the card contains heat-sensitive ink which are used to print entry endorsements. Previous version of the permit is a booklet format, with a blue cover. The words 中华人民共和国 and 往来港澳通行证 are displayed in simplified Chinese characters, the booklet-type permit has 32 pages for entry endorsements, and the biodata page, with the machine-readable code, is located in the back cover, unlike Chinese passports. All personal data are printed solely in Simplified Chinese, with only the name of the holder transcribed into Pinyin, Two-way Permits are issued, just like the Chinese passport, by local Exit and Entry Administrations of local Public Security Bureaus of their places of residence. Exit endorsements are not issued to a permit with a validity of less than three months. 探亲 T, to visit a sibling, valid for 3 months, single journey, maximum 14 days, to visit a parent/parent-in-law or child, ibid, or valid for 3 months, multi-entry, maximum stay 90 days. 商务 S, valid for 3 months or one year, maximum 7 days per visit, 团队旅游 L, valid for 3 month or 1 year, single- or double- journey, maximum 7 days per visit. 其他 Q, valid for 3 month or 1 year, single- or double- journey, 逗留 D, maximum stay authorized by respective SAR immigration officers. In addition, 奥运A was an endorsement for 90 days multiple exits. Women who are more than 28 weeks pregnant and suspected to be entering Hong Kong to give birth must show a booking confirmation at a Hong Kong hospital. Exit endorsements issued to the permit are affixed on one of the endorsement pages, similar to visas. The heat-sensitive ink in the back of the card ensures that the exit endorsements are visible to human eyes and can be re-printed by the special printer after the endorsement is used or invalid

Two-way Permit
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Biometric Two-way Permit (front side)
Two-way Permit
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Endorsements are located on the rear side of the Biometric Two-way Permits.
Two-way Permit
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Year 2000 edition of the Two-way Permit (ceased issuing after September 15, 2014)
Two-way Permit
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Data page of a year 2000 version Exit-Entry Permit

100.
Hukou system
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A hukou is a record in a government system of household registration required by law in mainland China, and determines where citizens are allowed to live. The system itself is properly called huji, and has origins in ancient China. A household registration record officially identifies a person as a resident of an area and includes identifying information such as name, parents, spouse, and date of birth. Because of its entrenchment of social strata, especially as between rural and urban residency status, the system is sometimes likened to a form of caste system. The system descends in part from ancient Chinese systems of household registration, in present times, a similar household registration system exists within the public administration structures of Japan, Vietnam, and North Korea. In South Korea, the Hoju system was abolished on 1 January 2008, while unrelated in origin, propiska in the Soviet Union or Resident registration in Russia had/has a similar purpose. The formal name for the system is huji, within the huji system, a hukou is the registered residency status of a particular individual in this system. Hukou is more used in everyday conversation. Hukou has been adopted by English-language audiences to refer to both the system and an individuals hukou. Family registers were in existence in China as early as the Xia Dynasty, in the centuries which followed, the family register developed into a system of categorisation of families and clans for purposes of taxation, conscription and social control. The Rites of Zhou notes that three copies of documents were kept in different places, the administrative divisions in Zhou Dynasty were a function of the distance to the state capital. The top division nearest the capital was named Dubi, top division in more distant areas were named Xiang, families were organized under the Baojia system. Guan Zhong, Prime Minister of the Qi state 7th century BCE, in addition, Guan Zhong also banned immigration, emigration, and separation of families without permission. In the Book of Lord Shang, Shang Yang also described his policy restricting immigrations and emigrations. Xiao He, the first Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, added the chapter of Hu as one of the nine basic law codes of Han, the Communist Party promoted a command economy when it came to power in 1949. In 1958, the Chinese government officially promulgated the family register system to control the movement of people between urban and rural areas, individuals were broadly categorised as a rural or urban worker. A worker seeking to move from the country to urban areas to take up non-agricultural work would have to apply through the relevant bureaucracies, the number of workers allowed to make such moves was tightly controlled. Migrant workers would require six passes to work in other than their own

Hukou system
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An individual household's register or hukou booklet; the local police station would hold a copy of these records in its central register

101.
Somalia
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Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Somalia has the longest coastline on Africas mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with monsoon winds. Somalia has an population of around 12.3 million. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis, who have inhabited the northern part of the country. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated in the southern regions, the official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic, both of which belong to the Afroasiatic family. Most people in the country are Muslim, with the majority being Sunni, in antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial centre. It is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt, during the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Empire, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, and the Geledi Sultanate. The toponym Somalia was coined by the Italian explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti, Italian occupation lasted until 1941, yielding to British military administration. British Somaliland would remain a protectorate, while Italian Somaliland in 1949 became a United Nations Trusteeship under Italian administration, in 1960, the two regions united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government. The Supreme Revolutionary Council seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, led by Mohamed Siad Barre, this government later collapsed in 1991 as the Somali Civil War broke out. Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum, during this period, due to the absence of a central government, Somalia was a failed state, and residents returned to customary and religious law in most regions. A few autonomous regions, including the Somaliland and Puntland administrations emerged in the north, the early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations. The Transitional National Government was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government in 2004, in 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nations southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union. The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, by mid-2012, the insurgents had lost most of the territory that they had seized. In 2011–2012, a political process providing benchmarks for the establishment of permanent democratic institutions was launched, within this administrative framework a new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012, which reformed Somalia as a federation. Somalia has maintained an informal economy, mainly based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, Somalia has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic. During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here, the oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE

102.
Gyeongui
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The Gyeongui Line is a railway line between Seoul and Dorasan Station in Paju. Korail operates the Seoul Metropolitan Subway service between Seoul Station and Munsan Station. Originally the line continued to Pyŏngyang and Sinŭiju, both of which are now in North Korea, or even to the South Manchuria Railway, linking the Korean railway system to the rest of Asia and Europe. The Korean Empire intended to build the Gyeongui Line with its own resources at the end of the 19th century, the line was also advanced for military considerations in expectation of a confrontation with Russia, which came in 1904 as the Russo-Japanese War. Japans military began to build the Gyeongui Line, while troop bases were established in connection with the railway, the first section of the Gyeongui Line opened from Yongsan in Seoul to Munsan on April 3,1906. Northern trains would have terminated north of Kaesŏng, after the end of the Korean War in 1953, southern trains were cut back to around Munsan, with northern trains terminating at Kaesŏng. Around the same time, North Korea renamed the Pyŏngyang-Kaesŏng section of the line as the Pyŏngbu Line, the DPRK sector is now 100% electrifed, although the double track section spans only from Pyongyang to Sunan Airport. Since the summit between the two Koreas in 2000, an effort has slowly been underway to reconnect the Gyeongui Line, southern passenger service has been extended to Dorasan on the edge of the Demilitarized Zone and tracks have been built across the DMZ itself. In October 2004, the Northern connection from the DMZ to Kaesŏng was finally completed, however, at a meeting held in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 22,2007, North and South Korea agreed to restart the project. On May 17,2007, the first train, carrying North and South Korean delegations, the first test run on the Donghae Bukbu Line took place at the same time. According to South Korean representatives, the North has agreed in principle to regular passenger, meanwhile, work began to upgrade the South Korean section for high-capacity commuter services. Between Seoul and Munsan, the line is converted into an electrified, double-tracked railway in a new, work began in November 1999, with a budget originally estimated at 1,970 billion won. The section from Digital Media City to Munsan was finished on July 1,2009, the remaining section will be mostly underground between Gajwa Station in northwestern Seoul to Yongsan Station in downtown Seoul. As of 2009, construction progress on the entire Seoul–Munsan section reached 74% of a budget then estimated at 2,153.271 billion won. The section is to be finished by 2014 and the area on the surface is to be turned into a park. The Gyeongui Line opened as a part Seoul Metropolitan Subway on July 1,2009 from Seoul to Munsan, the line connects Seoul, Digital Media City, Ilsan, Paju, and Munsan, and offers transfers to Line 3, Line 6, and AREX. The main line terminated at Digital Media City Station when first opened, on December 15,2012, the main line was extended to Gongdeok Station, providing transfers to Line 2 and Line 5. The term subway in reference to this line is somewhat of a misnomer, the upgraded line simply follows alignment of the old line built 100 years ago

103.
Kaesong
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Kaesong is a city in North Hwanghae Province in the southern part of North Korea, a former Directly-Governed City, and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close to the border with South Korea, called Songdo while it was the ancient capital of Goryeo, the city prospered as a trade centre that produced Korean ginseng. Kaesong now functions as the DPRKs light industry centre and it was also known by the Japanese pronunciation of its name, Kaijō, during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. Due to the proximity to the border with South Korea. As of 2009 the city had a population of 192,578, the earliest archaeological signs of habitation in the Kaesong area date from the Neolithic. Artifacts such as Jeulmun pottery, stone ware, and stone axes have been excavated from Osongsan and Kaesong Nasong, as Kaesong has been occupied by various states throughout centuries, its name has changed. It was in the realm of Mahan confederacy, and was referred to as Busogap during the rule of Goguryeo. Before the strength of Baekje was retreated to the southwest of Jungnyeong, Mungyeong Saejae, and Asan Bay in 475, the area had been a part of Baekje for about 100 years. However, it became a territory of Silla in 555, the 16th year of Jinheung of Sillas reign, and its name was changed to Songak-gun during the period. According to the Samguk Sagi, when a castle was built in the site in 694, therefore, it is assumed that the name Songak had been used at least before the time. Silla began to decline in late 9th century, and a period of rival warlords ensued. In 898, Kaesong fell under the hand of Gung Ye, the founder of his state, Taebong, and then became a part of Goryeo in 919 by its founder, Wang Geon. Taejo established the capital in the south of Songak, and incorporated Kaesong into Songak under the name of Gaeju, in 919, Kaesong became the national capital. In 960, the 11th year of Gwangjong of Goryeos reign, the city was renamed Gaegyeong, and in 995, the Gaeseong-bu is a combined term of Songak-gun, and Gaesong-gun, which is different from the region of the pre-1945 Gaesong-ri, Seo-myeon, Kaepung-gun. In the late 12th century, there was instability in both the government and the countryside, a slave named Manjǒk led a group of slaves who gathered outside Kaesong in 1198. The revolt plot was suppressed by Choe Chung-heon, when Yi Songgye overthrew Goryeo in 1392 and established the Joseon as Taejo of Joseon, he moved the Korean capital from Kaesong to Hanyang in 1394. Kaesŏng remained a part of Gyeonggi Province until the Korean War, when Korea was partitioned at the 38th parallel after World War II, Kaesong was on the southern side of the line. However, the battle of Kaesong-Munsan was won by the Korean Peoples Army in the first days of the Korean War, the city was recaptured by UN Forces on 9 October 1950 during the pursuit of the KPA that followed the successful Inchon landings

Kaesong
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The old town in Kaesong
Kaesong
Kaesong
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Kaesong in Summer
Kaesong
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A view towards the modern center of Kaesong, as seen towards the south from near the top of Mount Janam.

104.
Mount Kumgang
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Kŭmgangsan is a 1, 638-metre -high mountain in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is about 50 kilometres from the South Korean city of Sokcho in Gangwon-do and it is one of the best-known mountains in North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, Mount Kumgang is part of the Taebaek mountain range which runs along the east of the Korean peninsula. Mount Kumgang has been known for its scenic beauty since ancient times and is the subject of different works of art. Including its spring name, Kŭmgang, it has different names for each season. In summer it is called Pongraesan, in autumn, Phungaksan, in winter, Mount Kumgang is commonly divided into three areas, Inner Kŭmgang, Outer Kŭmgang, and Sea Kŭmgang, each with different geological and topographical features. Inner Kŭmgang is noted for its views, the Manpok ravine is popular with tourists. Outer Kŭmgang is noted for the number of peaks. Chipson Peak is known for its many waterfalls, the Sea Kŭmgang area is known for the lagoons and stone pillars. Much of the mountain is covered by mixed broadleaf and coniferous forest, some 25,000 ha has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it supports endangered red-crowned cranes. Since 1998, South Korean tourists have been allowed to visit Mount Kumgang, initially travelling by cruise ship, in 2002, the area around the mountain was separated from Kangwŏn Province and organized as a separately-administered Tourist Region. The land route was opened in 2003, a rail link exists on the North Korean side up to the border, but no tracks are laid between Gangneung and the border in South Korea. In 1998, there were 15,500 tourists in November and December, in 1999 there were 148,000, in 2001 tourist numbers dropped to 58,000 amidst disagreements over the access over land. As of 2002, almost 500,000 have visited the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, Tourist numbers have since established themselves at about 240,000 a year. In June 2005, Hyundai Asan announced the one millionth South Korean visit to the area, the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region is thought to be one way for the North Korean government to receive hard currency from abroad. Therefore, the currency of the tour is neither the South Korean won nor the North Korean won. Since 2003, food and services to South Korean tourists are provided by some North Koreans, but most of the staff in the hotels are Chinese citizens of Korean heritage with Korean language skills. The area is developed by Hyundai Asan, which plans to expand the site with a ski resort to complement the current sleigh course

105.
Visa policy of Armenia
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Armenia allows citizens of specific countries and territories to visit Armenia for tourism or business purposes without having to obtain a visa or allows them to obtain a visa on arrival or online. For some countries the visa requirement waiver is practiced on ad hoc basis, Armenia plans to sign a visa-free agreement with Serbia. Visitors traveling as tourists can obtain a visa on arrival for a stay of 120 days at a cost of AMD15,000. They may also apply for an e-visa in advance, E-visa allows applicants to stay up to 120 days or 21 days with a US$31 or US$6 fee. Foreign relations of Armenia Visa requirements for Armenian citizens Visa policy of Nagorno-Karabakh Schematic instructions for the process of obtaining Armenian visa Armenia E-visa Application

Visa policy of Armenia
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Visa policy of Armenia

106.
Spanish passport
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Spanish passports are issued to Spanish citizens for the purpose of travel outside Spain. Every Spanish citizen is also a citizen of the European Union, the passport, along with the national identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union and European Economic Area. Diplomatic Passport - Issued to Spanish diplomats, top ranking government officials, in the index, Spain is in the 3rd rank behind two other countries in terms of travel freedom. Spanish citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement, visa requirements for Spanish citizens Passports of the European Union

107.
Armenia
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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk

Armenia
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Reconstruction of Herodotus ' world map c. 450 BC, with Armenia shown in the center
Armenia
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Flag
Armenia
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The Armenian pagan Temple of Garni, probably built 1st century AD, is the only "Greco-Roman colonnaded building" in Armenia and the entire former Soviet Union.
Armenia
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The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's Mother Church traditionally dated 303 AD, is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.

108.
Azerbaijani passport
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The Azerbaijani passport is issued to the citizens of Azerbaijan for the purpose of international travel. Ordinary passport is valid for 10 years from the date of issue, passport content is printed both in Azerbaijani and in English. According to the 2012 publication of the Visa Restricitions Index, citizens of Azerbaijan can travel to 57 countries without a visa or by obtaining a visa at border crossings, ordinary passport, Issued to normal citizens. Ordinary passports are issued in two different lengths of validity, five and ten years, Azerbaijani citizens up to 18 years of age can only be issued a five-year passport, while those who are 18 years of age or older ten-year passport. Official passport, Issued to public servants, diplomatic passport, Issued to diplomats and their family members and government high-level officials. The passport is 88 x 125 mm with 54 pages in total, new passport booklet design is in compliance with ICAO regulation document 9303. The overall design of the new booklet, apart from the above-mentioned, in 2015, Azerbaijani citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 58 countries and territories, ranking the Azerbaijani passport 79th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. Visa requirements for Azerbaijani citizens Visa policy of Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Azerbaijani passport
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The data page of the latest version of the Azerbaijani biometric passport.
Azerbaijani passport
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The front cover of a contemporary Azerbaijani biometric passport (2013).
Azerbaijani passport
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Inside of the first page of a biometric Azerbaijani passport.
Azerbaijani passport
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Inside of the front cover and the first page of an ordinary Azerbaijani passport.

109.
Republic of Cyprus
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Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, the earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC, Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders, following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. On 15 July 1974, a coup détat was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis and these events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, another nearly 4% of the islands area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, on 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the 15th century BC Mycenaean Greek

Republic of Cyprus
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A copper mine on Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper.
Republic of Cyprus
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Flag
Republic of Cyprus
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Archeologic site of Choirokoitia with early remains of human habitation during Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction)
Republic of Cyprus
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Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, Kourion

110.
Gibraltar passport
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The Gibraltar passport is a British passport issued to British Citizens and British Overseas Territory Citizen who live in, or have a connection with Gibraltar. As a result of the British Nationality Act 1981, Gibraltarians were British Overseas Territories citizens by default and they are considered British citizens for EU purposes with all consequential rights and entitlements. Under The British Overseas Territories Act all British Overseas Territories Citizens have the right to register as British Citizens, Gibraltar passports are issued by the Gibraltar Passport Office. Since 2005, passports issued in Gibraltar have been biometric, Gibraltarians travelling within the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland are entitled to use a Gibraltar identity card instead of a Gibraltar passport as a travel document. British passports issued in Gibraltar differ from UK issued ones only in some of the wording, the word Gibraltar is added beneath United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and on the information page. The only other difference is that whereas UK-issued passports state that, on Gibraltar-issued passports, history of Nationality in Gibraltar Gibraltarian status Passports of the European Union

111.
Right of Abode (United Kingdom)
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The right of abode is a status under United Kingdom immigration law that gives an unrestricted right to live in the United Kingdom. It was introduced by the Immigration Act 1971, in current law, the right of abode is established by the British Nationality Act 1981 and subsequent amendments. All British citizens have the right of abode in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, no person born in 1983 or later can have the right of abode unless he or she is a British citizen. It is essential that the person concerned should have held Commonwealth citizenship or British subject status on 31 December 1982 and has not ceased to be a Commonwealth citizen after that date. For this reason, citizens of Pakistan and South Africa are generally not entitled to the right of abode in the UK as these countries were not Commonwealth members on 1 January 1983. An individual may be able to claim the right of abode in the United Kingdom through more than one route, therefore, if she were to renounce her British citizenship, she would still be allowed to stay in the UK free from any immigration restrictions. A certificate of entitlement costs £272 when issued in the UK and this is considerably more expensive than obtaining a British passport. In addition, those with the right of abode who are not yet British citizens may apply for British citizenship by naturalisation after meeting the normal residence and other requirements. Children born in the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories to those with right of abode in the UK will normally be British citizens by birth automatically, before 1949, all Irish citizens were considered under British law to be British subjects. Unlike Commonwealth citizens, Irish citizens have not been subject to entry control in the United Kingdom and. They may be subject to deportation from the UK upon the lines as other European Economic Area nationals. As a result, Irish nationals are not routinely considered for deportation from the UK when they are released from prison, Indefinite leave to remain is a form of UK permanent residence that can be held by non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, but it does not confer a right of abode. All British overseas territories operate their own immigration controls, which apply to British citizens as well as to those other countries. These territories generally have local immigration laws regulating who has status in that territory. British nationality law Common Travel Area Commonwealth citizen History of British nationality law Indefinite leave to remain Right of abode

Right of Abode (United Kingdom)
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A Certificate of Entitlement endorsed in the passports of those with the right of abode in the United Kingdom who do not possess a British Citizen passport.

112.
Tongan passport
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The Tongan Passport is an international travel document that is issued to Tongan citizens. Tongan Protected Person passports are sold by the Government of Tonga to anyone who is not a Tongan citizen, Tongan Protected Person passport holders cannot enter or settle in Tonga on this passport. Generally, those holders are refugees, stateless persons, and individuals who for political reasons do not have access to any other passport-issuing authority. Some countries/regions, e. g. Hong Kong, do not recognize the Tongan Protected Person passport as a travel document

Tongan passport
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The front cover of a Tongan passport.

113.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama

114.
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
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SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27,1976, in Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara, a former communist liberation force which has since reformed its ideological and political views. The SADR government controls about 20–25% of the territory it claims and it calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone. Morocco controls and administers the rest of the territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory to be occupied territory, the claimed capital of the SADR is El-Aaiún, while the temporary capital has been moved from Bir Lehlou to Tifariti. The Sahrawi Republic maintains diplomatic relations with 40 UN states, and is a member of the African Union. On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the United Nations that as of date it had terminated its presence in Western Sahara and relinquished its responsibilities. Neither Morocco nor Mauritania gained international recognition, and war ensued with the independence-seeking Polisario Front, on February 27,2008, the provisional capital was formally moved to Tifariti. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, the broad guidelines laid down for an eventual Western Saharan state in the constitution include eventual multi-party democracy with a market economy. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim, African and Arab people, the Constitution also declares a commitment to the principles of human rights and to the concept of a Greater Maghreb, as a regional variant of Pan-Arabism. The SADRs government structure consists of a Council of Ministers, a judicial branch, since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions have transformed the republic from an ad hoc managerial structure into something approaching an actual governing apparatus. Its various ministries are responsible for a variety of services and functions, the judiciary, complete with trial courts, appeals courts and a supreme court, operates in the same areas. As a government-in-exile, many branches of government do not fully function, among other things, it has added a ban on the death penalty to the constitution, and brought down the government in 1999 through a vote of no-confidence. The composition of the Sahrawi National Council is as follows, The SADR acted as a government administration in the Sahrawi refugee camps located in the Tindouf Province of western Algeria. The government of the SADR claims sovereignty over all of the Western Sahara territory, several foreign aid agencies, including the UN High Commission for Refugees, and nongovernmental organizations are continually active in the camps. As of 2016, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been recognized by 85 states, of these,37 have since frozen or withdrawn recognition for a number of reasons. A total of 40 UN states maintain diplomatic relations with the SADR, Sahrawi embassies exist in 18 states. Although it is not recognised by the United Nations, the SADR has held membership of the African Union since 1982. The SADR participates as guest on meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement or the New Asian–African Strategic Partnership, on the other hand, Moroccos claim to Western Sahara is supported by the Arab League

115.
Kenya
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Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi and it is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2, and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017, Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea, in the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period, by the first millennium AD, the Bantu expansion had reached the area from West-Central Africa. Bantu and Nilotic populations together constitute around 97% of the nations residents, European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which starting in 1920 gave way to the Kenya Colony, Kenya obtained independence in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, the capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East, agriculture is a major employer, the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also an economic driver. Additionally, Kenya is a member of the East African Community trading bloc, the Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa, if so, then the British may not so much have mispronounced it, as misspelled it. In the 19th century, the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf was staying with the Bantu Kamba people when he first spotted the mountain. On asking for the name of the mountain, he was told Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa probably because the pattern of black rock, the Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, which is quite similar to the Kamba name. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia believed by most to be a corruption of the Kamba version, others say that this was—on the contrary—a very precise notation of a correct African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/

116.
Uganda
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Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, Uganda is the worlds second most populous landlocked country after Ethiopia. The southern part of the country includes a portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a portion of the south of the country. The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, beginning in 1894, the area was ruled as a protectorate by the British, who established administrative law across the territory. Uganda gained independence from Britain on 9 October 1962, luganda, a central language, is widely spoken across the country, and several other languages are also spoken including Runyoro, Runyankole, Rukiga, and Luo. The president of Uganda is Yoweri Museveni, who came to power in January 1986 after a protracted guerrilla war. The ancestors of the Ugandans were hunter-gatherers until 1, 700-2,300 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations, who were probably from central Africa, migrated to the southern parts of the country. According to oral tradition, the Empire of Kitara covered an important part of the lakes area, from the northern lakes Albert and Kyoga to the southern lakes Victoria. Bunyoro-Kitara is claimed as the antecedent of the Buganda, Toro, Ankole, some Luo invaded the area of Bunyoro and assimilated with the Bantu there, establishing the Babiito dynasty of the current Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara. Arab traders moved inland from the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa in the 1830s and they were followed in the 1860s by British explorers searching for the source of the Nile. British Anglican missionaries arrived in the kingdom of Buganda in 1877 and were followed by French Catholic missionaries in 1879, the British government chartered the Imperial British East Africa Company to negotiate trade agreements in the region beginning in 1888. From 1886, there were a series of wars in Buganda. Because of civil unrest and financial burdens, IBEAC claimed that it was unable to maintain their occupation in the region, in the 1890s,32,000 labourers from British India were recruited to East Africa under indentured labour contracts to construct the Uganda Railway. Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 decided to remain in East Africa after the lines completion, subsequently, some became traders and took control of cotton ginning and sartorial retail. British naval ships unknowingly carried rats that contained the bubonic plague and these rats spread the disease throughout Uganda. From 1900 to 1920, a sleeping sickness epidemic in the part of Uganda, along the north shores of Lake Victoria

117.
Burundi
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It is also considered part of Central Africa. The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika, the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent kingdom, until the beginning of the twentieth century, after the First World War and Germanys defeat, it ceded the territory to Belgium. Both Germans and Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi, despite common misconceptions, Burundi and Rwanda had never been under common rule until the time of European colonisation. The European intervention exacerbated social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, and contributed to political unrest in the region. Bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped, Burundis political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state and head of government, there are currently 21 registered parties in Burundi. On 13 March 1992, Tutsi coup leader Pierre Buyoya established a constitution, six years later, on 6 June 1998, the constitution was changed, broadening National Assemblys seats and making provisions for two vice-presidents. Because of the Arusha Accord, Burundi enacted a government in 2000. In October 2016, Burundi informed the UN of its intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Burundi remains an overwhelmingly rural society, with just 13% of the population living in urban areas in 2013. The population density of around 315 people per kilometre is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin, 15% are Tutsi, the official languages of Burundi are French and Kirundi, although Swahili can be found spoken along the Tanzanian border. One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi has an equatorial climate, Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a plateau in the centre of Africa. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m, lies to the southeast of the capital, there are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest, Ruvubu National Park to the northeast. Both were established in 1982 to conserve wildlife populations, Burundis lands are mostly agricultural or pasture. Settlement by rural populations has led to deforestation, soil erosion, deforestation of the entire country is almost completely due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km2 remaining and an ongoing loss of about 9% per annum. In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, Burundi is densely populated and has had substantial emigration as young people seek opportunities elsewhere

118.
East African Community
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John Magufuli, the president of Tanzania, is the EACs chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, the EAC is an integral part of the African Economic Community. The EAC is a precursor to the establishment of the East African Federation. In 2010, the EAC launched its own common market for goods, labour, in 2013, a protocol was signed outlining their plans for launching a monetary union within 10 years. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have cooperated with each other since the early 20th century, Burundi and Rwanda joined the EAC on 6 July 2009. Inter-territorial co-operation between the Kenya Colony, the Uganda Protectorate, and the Tanganyika Territory was formalised in 1948 by the EAHC and this provided a customs union, a common external tariff, currency, and postage. It also dealt with common services in transport and communications, research, the new organisation ran into difficulties because of the lack of joint planning and fiscal policy, separate political policies, and Kenyas dominant economic position. In 1967, the EACSO was superseded by the EAC and this body aimed to strengthen the ties between the members through a common market, a common customs tariff, and a range of public services to achieve balanced economic growth within the region. The three member states lost over sixty years of co-operation and the benefits of economies of scale, the EAC was revived on 30 November 1999, when the treaty for its re-establishment was signed. It came into force on 7 July 2000,23 years after the collapse of the previous community, a customs union was signed in March 2004, which commenced on 1 January 2005. Kenya, the regions largest exporter, continued to pay duties on goods entering the four countries on a declining scale until 2010. A common system of tariffs will apply to imported from third-party countries. On 30 November 2016 it was declared that the aim would be confederation rather than federation. This was contradicted by President Salva Kiir, who announced South Sudan had begun the process one month later. The application was deferred by the EAC in December 2012, however incidents with Ugandan boda-boda operators in South Sudan have created political tension and may delay the process. In December 2012, Tanzania agreed to South Sudan’s bid to join the EAC, in May 2013 the EAC set aside US$82,000 for the admission of South Sudan into the bloc even though admission may not happen until 2016. The process, to start after the EAC Council of Ministers meeting in August 2013, was projected to take at least four years. A team was formed to assess South Sudans bid, however, in April 2014 and those recommendations, however, had not been released to the public

119.
Economic Community of West African States
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The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS, is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these comprise an area of 5,114,162 km2. The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, a revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou. In recent years these included interventions in Ivory Coast in 2003, Liberia in 2003, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, Mali in 2013, established in 1994 and intended to counterbalance the dominance of English-speaking economies in the bloc, members of UEMOA are mostly former territories of French West Africa. The currency they all use is the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro, the West African Monetary Zone, established in 2000, comprises six mainly English-speaking countries within ECOWAS which plan to work towards adopting their own common currency, the eco. A few members of the organization have come and gone over the years, in 1976 Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, and in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew, having announced its intention to do so in December 1999. In 2011, ECOWAS adopted its development blueprint for the decade, Vision 2020, and, to accompany it. As of February 2017 ECOWAS has 15 member states, eight of these are French-speaking, five are English-speaking, all current members joined the community as founding members in May 1975, except Cape Verde which joined in 1977. Statistics for population, nominal GDP and purchase price parity GDP listed below are taken from World Bank estimates for 2015, area data is taken from a 2012 report compiled by the United Nations Statistics Division. The ECOWAS nations assigned a non-aggression protocol in 1990 along with two earlier agreements in 1978 and 1981. They also signed a Protocol on Mutual Defence Assistance in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981, the Community Parliament consists of 115 members, distributed based on the population of each member state. This body is headed by the Speaker of the Parliament, who is above the Secretary General, for the third time since its inception in 1975, ECOWAS is undergoing institutional reforms. The first was when it revised its treaty on 24 July 1993, however, the Court did not officially begin operations until the 1991 protocol came into effect on 5 November 1996. The jurisdiction of the court is outlined in Article 9 and Articles 76 of the Revised Treaty and it also provides the ECOWAS Council with advisory opinions on legal issues. Like its companion courts the European Court of Human Rights and East African Court of Justice, it has jurisdiction to rule on fundamental human rights breaches. ECOWAS nations organize an array of cultural and sports event under the auspices of the body, including the CEDEAO Cup in football, the 2012 ECOWAS Games. It was established to promote economic integration among countries that share the CFA franc as a common currency. UEMOA was created by a Treaty signed at Dakar, Senegal, on 10 January 1994, by the heads of state and governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte dIvoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo

Economic Community of West African States
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ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development headquarters in Lome.
Economic Community of West African States

120.
Benin
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Benin, officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, the majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometers and its population in 2015 was estimated to be approximately 10.88 million. Benin is a nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment. The official language of Benin is French, however, indigenous languages such as Fon and Yoruba are commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun and this region was referred to as the Slave Coast from as early as the 17th century due to the large number of slaves shipped to the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. After slavery was abolished, France took over the country and renamed it French Dahomey, in 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France, and had a tumultuous period with many different democratic governments, many military coups and military governments. A Marxist–Leninist state called the Peoples Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990, in 1991, it was replaced by the current multi-party Republic of Benin. During the colonial period and at independence, the country was known as Dahomey, on 30 November 1975 it was renamed to Benin, after the body of water on which the country lies—the Bight of Benin—which, in turn, had been named after the Benin Empire. The country of Benin has no connection to Benin City in modern Nigeria, the form Benin is the result of a Portuguese corruption of the city of Ubinu. The new name, Benin, was chosen for its neutrality, the current country of Benin combines three areas which had different political and ethnic systems prior to French colonial control. Before 1700, there were a few important city states along the coast, the situation changed in the 1600s and early 1700s as the Kingdom of Dahomey, which was of Fon ethnicity, was founded on the Abomey plateau and began taking over areas along the coast. The Dahomey Kingdom was known for its culture and traditions, young boys were often apprenticed to older soldiers, and taught the kingdoms military customs until they were old enough to join the army. This emphasis on preparation and achievement earned Dahomey the nickname of black Sparta from European observers. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, by about 1750, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling Africans to the European slave-traders. Court protocols, which demanded that a portion of war captives from the many battles be decapitated, decreased the number of enslaved people exported from the area. The number went from 102,000 people per decade in the 1780s to 24,000 per decade by the 1860s, the decline was partly due to the banning of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain and other countries. This decline continued until 1885, when the last slave ship departed from the coast of the present-day Benin Republic bound for Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, the capitals name Porto-Novo is of Portuguese origin, meaning New Port

121.
Cape Verde
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Located 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres. The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline, Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as a department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to agitate for independence. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a representative democracy. Lacking natural resources, its economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism. Its population of around 512,000 is mostly of mixed European and sub-Saharan African heritage, a sizeable diaspora community exists across the world, slightly outnumbering inhabitants on the islands. Historically, the name Cape Verde has been used in English for the archipelago and, since independence in 1975, for the country. In 2013, the Cape Verdean government determined that the Portuguese designation Cabo Verde would henceforth be used for official purposes, such as at the United Nations, Cape Verde is a member of the African Union. The name of the stems from the nearby Cap-Vert, on the Senegalese coast. In 1444 Portuguese explorers had named that landmark as Cabo Verde, on 24 October 2013, the countrys delegation announced at the United Nations that the official name should no longer be translated into other languages. Instead of Cape Verde, the designation Republic of Cabo Verde is to be used, before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited. The islands of the Cape Verde archipelago were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456, according to Portuguese official records, the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes, Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso, in 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande. Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics, in the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade. Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements, sir Francis Drake, an English corsair privateering under a letter of marque granted by the English crown, twice sacked the capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union. After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in relative to nearby Praia. Decline in the trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis

122.
Gambia
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The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa, the Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nations namesake, which flows through the centre of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 10,689 square kilometres with a population of 1,882,450 at the April 2013 census, Banjul is the Gambian capital, and the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. Later, on 25 May 1765, The Gambia was made a part of the British Empire when the government formally assumed control, in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara, who ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup. Adama Barrow became The Gambias third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in December 2016 elections, Jammeh initially refused to accept the results, which triggered a constitutional crisis and military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States, resulting in his exile. The Gambias economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism, in 2008, about a third of the population lived below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. The name Gambia is derived from the Mandinka term Kambra/Kambaa, meaning Gambia river, upon independence as a Commonwealth realm, the country used the name The Gambia. Following the proclamation of a republic in 1970, the name of the country became Republic of The Gambia. The administration of Yahya Jammeh changed the name to Islamic Republic of The Gambia in December 2015. On 29 January 2017 the new President Adama Barrow said the name will go back to Republic of The Gambia. Arab traders provided the first written accounts of the Gambia area in the ninth and tenth centuries, during the tenth century, Muslim merchants and scholars established communities in several West African commercial centres. Both groups established trans-Saharan trade routes, leading to an export trade in slaves, gold and ivory. At the beginning of the 14th century, most of what is today called Gambia was part of the Mali Empire, the Portuguese reached this area by sea in the mid-15th century, and began to dominate overseas trade. In 1588, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato, letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I confirmed the grant. In 1618, King James I of England granted a charter to an English company for trade with the Gambia, between 1651 and 1661, some parts of the Gambia were under the rule of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and were bought by Prince Jacob Kettler. The British Empire occupied the Gambia when an expedition led by Augustus Keppel landed there following the Capture of Senegal in 1758. The 1783 First Treaty of Versailles gave Great Britain possession of the Gambia River and this was finally ceded to the United Kingdom in 1856. As many as three million slaves may have taken from this general region during the three centuries that the transatlantic slave trade operated

123.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms

Guinea
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Samori Ture was the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic state in present-day Guinea that resisted French colonial rule in West Africa from 1882 until Ture's capture in 1898.
Guinea
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Guinea
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President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by the Communist bloc states and in 1961 visited Yugoslavia.
Guinea
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Monument to commemorate the 1970 military victory over the Portuguese raid. The only objective not accomplished by the Portuguese raid was the capture of Ahmed Sékou Touré.

124.
Ivory Coast
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Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960

125.
Niger
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Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. Niger covers a area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest country in West Africa. The countrys predominantly Islamic population of about 19 million is mostly clustered in the far south, the capital city is Niamey, located in the far-southwest corner of Niger. Niger is a country, and is consistently one of the lowest-ranked in the United Nations Human Development Index. Much of the portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the fertile south. Nigerien society reflects a diversity drawn from the long independent histories of its ethnic groups and regions. Historically, what is now Niger has been on the fringes of large states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under five constitutions and three periods of military rule, following a military coup in 2010, Niger has become a democratic, multi-party state. A majority live in areas, and have little access to advanced education. Early human settlement in Niger is evidenced by archaeological remains. In prehistoric times, the climate of the Sahara was wet and provided favorable conditions for agriculture, in 2005–06, a graveyard in the Tenere desert was discovered by Paul Sereno, a paleontologist from the University of Chicago. His team discovered 5, 000-year-old remains of a woman and two children in the Tenere Desert, the evidence along with remains of animals that do not typically live in desert are among the strongest evidence of the green Sahara in Niger. It is believed that progressive desertification around 5000 BCE pushed sedentary populations to the south and south-east. By at least the 5th century BCE, Niger became an area of trade, led by the Berber tribes from the north. This trade has made Agadez a pivotal place of the trans-Saharan trade and this mobility, which would continue in waves for several centuries, was accompanied with further migration to the south and interbreeding between southern black and northern white populations. It was also aided by the introduction of Islam to the region at the end of the 7th century, several empires and kingdoms also flourished during this era up to the beginning of colonization in Africa

Niger
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Ancient rock engraving showing herds of giraffe, ibex, and other animals in the southern Sahara near Tiguidit, Niger.
Niger
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Niger
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Overlooking the town of Zinder and the Sultan's Palace from the French fort (1906). The arrival of the French spelled a sudden end for precolonial states like the Sultanate of Damagaram, which carried on only as ceremonial "chiefs" appointed by the colonial government.
Niger
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The Kaouar escarpment, forming an oasis in the Ténéré desert.

126.
Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia
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The Eurasian Customs Union is a customs union which consists of all the Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. The customs union is a task of the Eurasian Economic Community, established in 2000. No customs are levied on goods travelling within the customs union and—unlike a free trade area—members of the customs union impose a common external tariff on all goods entering the union and it came into existence on 1 January 2010. Its founding states were Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, on 2 January 2015 it was enlarged to include Armenia. Kyrgyzstan acceded to the EEU on 6 August 2015, the member states continued with economic integration and removed all customs borders between each other after July 2011. On 19 November 2011, the member states put together a joint commission on fostering closer economic ties, on 1 January 2012, the three states formed a single economic space to promote further economic integration. The Eurasian Economic Commission is the agency for the Customs Union. The creation of the Eurasian Customs Union was guaranteed by 3 different treaties signed in 1995,1999 and 2007, export When exporting goods a zero rated VAT is guaranteed and the exemption of excise taxes if sufficient documentary evidence has been provided. Imports Imported goods into the territory of the Russia from the territory of Belarus or Kazakhstan are subject to VAT,87. 95% of customs import duties come from Russias budget,4. 7% from Belarus and the remainder from Kazakhstan. As of September 2016,36 Customs Union Technical Regulations have been developed covering different types of products, some Technical Regulations are being still developed. Here you can see the list of developed CU TRs, There are two types of conformity assessment procedures - Certification and Declaration. List of products which are subject to Certification and Declaration is provided in the relevant CU Technical Regulations, the customer can always choose to order CU Certificate instead of CU Declaration. For Declaration of Conformity the Applicant must be a local entity registered at the territory of a EAEU Member Country, the range of Applicants for Certification is defined in the relevant Technical Regulations. All conformity assessment works can only be done by local Certification Bodies/Testing Laboratories accredited in the EAEU Member countries by their National Accrediting Authorities, for products which successfully passed the CU EAC conformity assessment procedure - a CU EAC Certificate is issued. All Certificates/Declarations are officially registered in the Registers for CU EAC Certificates/Declarations maintained by each Member Country, the term of validity is defined in the Certificate. For series manufacturing Certificates -theres mandatory annual surveillance procedure, products complying with all applicable CU Technical Regulations shall be marked with mandatory EAC Mark. The EAEU Member countries managed to agree on unification of requirements for most of categories of products/services, however, a) There are areas where national requirements are valid in each member country. It is not currently planned to develop unified requirements in the EAEU for this type of products, as of today, it is not expected that unified requirements in EAEU for radio-telecom appliances/modules would appear earlier than the year 2020

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Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. Passengers from Kazakhstan are no longer subject to customs inspections.
Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia

127.
Common Travel Area
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The Common Travel Area is an open borders area comprising Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The maintenance of the CTA involves considerable co-operation on immigration matters between the British and Irish authorities, in 2014, the British and Irish governments began a trial system of mutual recognition of each others visas for onward travel within the Common Travel area. As of June 2016 it applies to Chinese and Indian nationals and is limited to certain visa types, the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922 at a time when systematic passport and immigration controls were becoming standard at international frontiers. Before the creation of the Irish Free State, British immigration law applied in Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, if, however, the pre-1922 situation were to be continued, the Irish immigration authorities would have to continue to enforce British immigration policy after independence. The agreement was provided for in UK law by deeming the Irish Free State to be part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of immigration law and it was fully implemented in 1925 when legislation passed in both countries provided for the recognition of the others landing conditions for foreigners. This may be considered to have been the point of the CTA – although it was not called that at the time – as it almost amounted to a common immigration area. The CTA was suspended on the outbreak of war in 1939 and this meant that travel restrictions even applied to people travelling within the UK if they were travelling from Northern Ireland to elsewhere in the UK. After the war, the Irish re-instated their previous provisions allowing free movement, consequently, the British maintained immigration controls between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain until 1952, to the consternation of Northern Irelands Unionist population. The content of the agreement appears to be that a foreigner would be refused entry to the United Kingdom if they wished to travel onward to Ireland and is provided for in relevant immigration law. The CTA has meant that Ireland has been required to follow changes in British immigration policy, the latter group would have included individuals who were British citizens by descent or by birth in a British colony. This discrepancy between Britains and Irelands definition of a British citizen was not resolved until 1999 and this led to controversy because Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, with a prominent Unionist describing the proposed arrangements as intolerable and preposterous. It is expected that this power will only apply to air. On 1 April 2009, an amendment moved by Lord Glentoran in the House of Lords defeated the British Governments proposal, the relevant clause was re-introduced by Home Office minister Phil Woolas in the Public Bill Committee in June, but again removed in July after opposition pressure. 2011 marked the first public agreement between the British and Irish governments concerning the maintenance of the CTA, the two ministers also signed an unpublished memorandum of understanding at the same time. Immigration checks are carried out by the Guernsey Border Agency and the Jersey Customs, while British citizens are not required to be in possession of a valid travel document as a condition of entry, they may be required to satisfy immigration officials as to their nationality. Whatever about anyone else, Joseph Heller certainly would have approved, INIS staff will be responsible for performing all in-booth duties, but will not take part in any matters related to restraint, detention or arrest. Travellers wishing to transit though the UK to Ireland must have a valid UK visa, there are no routine immigration checks on travellers arriving in the Isle of Man from another part of the CTA. As there are no scheduled air or ferry services between the Isle of Man and outside the CTA, there are, in effect, no immigration checks in place

Common Travel Area
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The border at Killeen marked only by a speed sign marked in km/h
Common Travel Area
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Common Travel Area

128.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him

129.
Nordic Passport Union
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Since 25 March 2001, all five states have also been within the Schengen Area. The Faroe Islands are part of the Nordic Passport Union but not the Schengen Area, while Greenland, however, Greenland has an open border with all Nordic countries, and allows Nordic citizens to enter, settle and work without requiring a passport or permits. Furthermore, as citizens of a Nordic country, those from Svalbard, Nordic citizens are generally treated like local citizens in all these countries, in particular for travel purposes. For Nordic citizens, no identity documentation is required to enter or reside in any Nordic country. However, identity documentation is still useful, as companies may require proof of identity for certain services, such as trains, airports, usually any valid proof of identity is accepted, such as a driver licence. The Nordic Passport Union was established in three stages, on 1 July 1954, the agreement was extended to allow citizens to reside and work in any of the four countries without a residence or work permit. Iceland joined the agreement on 1 December 1955, the treaty was extended to Iceland on 24 September 1965 and to the Faroe Islands on 1 January 1966. Greenland and Svalbard remain outside the passport union, in December 1996 the two non-EU member states Norway and Iceland signed an association agreement with the signatories of the Schengen Agreement to become part of the Schengen Area. While this agreement never came into force, both countries did become part of the Schengen Area after concluding similar agreements with the EU, the Schengen Convention itself was not open for signature by non-EU member states. From 25 March 2001, the Schengen acquis applied to the area of the Nordic Passport Union with the exception of the Faroe Islands, border checkpoints have been removed within the Schengen Area, in addition to those that had been abolished previously within the Nordic Passport Union. Before 2001, full customs checks were required for travel when travelling from Denmark to other Nordic countries. There was no border with Denmark before July 2000 when the Öresund Bridge was opened. Nordic citizens did not need to be in possession of a passport, for land and ferry travel into Denmark and between Sweden, Norway and Finland, there were much more relaxed customs and passport checks, and often no checks at all. It happened that Nordic citizens without a passport were not allowed to pass until a thorough identity investigation had been made, passengers travelling by public transport, such as train or air, were usually not interviewed by the customs control. Still laws give police and guards the right to demand an identity document at airports which is not enforced inside Nordic countries. In November 2015, Sweden introduced temporary border controls, and requirements for all airlines and ferries to check identity documents. From 4 January 2016, Sweden requires carriers to perform identity checks on the Danish side of the Denmark–Sweden border, for this a passport or a Nordic drivers license is needed. A national id card from EU countries can be used, the protocol concerning the abolition of passports for travel between Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway was signed on 14 July 1952, in Stockholm

130.
Vermont
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Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders the other U. S. states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Lake Champlain forms half of Vermonts western border with the state of New York, Vermont is the 2nd-least populous of the U. S. states, with nearly 50,000 more residents than Wyoming. The capital is Montpelier, the least populous state capital in the U. S, the most populous municipality, Burlington, is the least populous city in the U. S. to be the most populous within a state. As of 2015, Vermont continued to be the producer of maple syrup in the U. S. It was ranked as the safest state in the country in January 2016, for thousands of years inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Mohawk, much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by Frances colony of New France. France ceded the territory to Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years War, for many years, the nearby colonies, especially the provinces of New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area. Settlers who held land titles granted by New York were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, ultimately, those settlers prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War, the republic lasted for 14 years, aside from the original 13 states that were formerly colonies, Vermont is one of only four U. S. states that were previously sovereign states. Vermont was also the first state to join the U. S. as its 14th member state after the original 13, while still an independent republic, Vermont was the first of any future U. S. state to partially abolish slavery. It played an important geographic role in the Underground Railroad, Vermont is located in the New England region of the northeastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles, making it the 45th-largest state. It is the state that does not have any buildings taller than 124 feet. Land comprises 9,250 square miles and water comprises 365 square miles, making it the 43rd-largest in land area, in total area, it is larger than El Salvador and smaller than Haiti. The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border with New Hampshire. 41% of Vermonts land area is part of the Connecticut Rivers watershed, Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles long and its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles at the Canada–U. S. Border, the narrowest width is 37 miles at the Massachusetts line, the states geographic center is approximately three miles east of Roxbury, in Washington County. There are fifteen U. S. federal border crossings between Vermont and Canada, the origin of the name Vermont is uncertain, but likely comes from the French les Verts Monts, meaning the Green Mountains

131.
Michigan
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Michigan /ˈmɪʃᵻɡən/ is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit, Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, the two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, as a result, it is one of the leading U. S. states for recreational boating. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds, a person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline. What is now the state of Michigan was first settled by Native American tribes before being colonized by French explorers in the 17th century, the area was organized as part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Eventually, in 1805, the Michigan Territory was formed, which lasted until it was admitted into the Union on January 26,1837, the state of Michigan soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination. Though Michigan has come to develop an economy, it is widely known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlés expedition in 1622, the first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions, missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were received by the areas Indian populations, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph, in 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present day city of Niles. The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent, cadillacs wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post, the Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year

132.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year

133.
Native Americans in the United States
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In the United States, Native Americans are people descended from the Pre-Columbian indigenous population of the land within the countrys modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups. Most Native American groups had historically preserved their histories by oral traditions and artwork, at the time of first contact, the indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some of the Northeastern and Southwestern cultures in particular were matrilineal, the majority of Indigenous American tribes maintained their hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire tribe. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. Assimilation became a consistent policy through American administrations, during the 19th century, the ideology of manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Expansion of European-American populations to the west after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native American lands and this resulted in the ethnic cleansing of many tribes, with the brutal, forced marches coming to be known as The Trail of Tears. As American expansion reached into the West, settler and miner migrants came into increasing conflict with the Great Basin, Great Plains and these were complex nomadic cultures based on horse culture and seasonal bison hunting. Over time, the United States forced a series of treaties and land cessions by the tribes, in 1924, Native Americans who were not already U. S. citizens were granted citizenship by Congress. Contemporary Native Americans have a relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial, by comparison, the indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations. It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and these early inhabitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. The archaeological periods used are the classifications of archaeological periods and cultures established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips 1958 book Method and they divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, see Archaeology of the Americas. The Clovis culture, a hunting culture, is primarily identified by use of fluted spear points. Artifacts from this culture were first excavated in 1932 near Clovis, the Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and also appeared in South America. The culture is identified by the distinctive Clovis point, a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute, dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B. P, other tribes have stories that recount migrations across long tracts of land and a great river, believed to be the Mississippi River. Genetic and linguistic data connect the people of this continent with ancient northeast Asians

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Pushmataha
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States
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Charles Eastman
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Wilma Mankiller

134.
British Columbia
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British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U. S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Port Moody is named after him, in 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colonys capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu, the capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, in October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371. British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871, First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, notably, the Tsilhqotin Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision. BCs economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the provinces GDP and it is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 land is arable and its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the provinces largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies and it also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. The Northern Interior region has a climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, the provinces name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia, i. e. the Mainland, became a British colony in 1858. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, British Columbias land area is 944,735 square kilometres. British Columbias rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres and it is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbias capital is Victoria, located at the tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of the Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated, much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by thick, tall and sometimes impenetrable temperate rainforest

135.
Manitoba
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Manitoba is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada. It is one of the three provinces and Canadas fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people. Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres with a varied landscape. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited what is now Manitoba for thousands of years, in the late 17th century, fur traders arrived in the area when it was part of Ruperts Land and owned by the Hudsons Bay Company. In 1869, negotiations for the creation of the province of Manitoba led to an uprising of the Métis people against the Government of Canada. The rebellions resolution led to the Parliament of Canada passing the Manitoba Act in 1870 that created the province, Manitobas capital and largest city, Winnipeg, is Canadas eighth-largest census metropolitan area. Winnipeg is the seat of government, home to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, four of the provinces five universities and all four of its professional sports teams are in Winnipeg. The name Manitoba is believed to be derived from the Cree, the name derives from Cree manitou-wapow or Ojibwa manidoobaa, both meaning straits of Manitou, the Great Spirit, a place referring to what are now called The Narrows in the centre of Lake Manitoba. It may also be from the Assiniboine for Lake of the Prairie, the lake was known to French explorers as Lac des Prairies. Thomas Spence chose the name to refer to a new republic he proposed for the south of the lake. Métis leader Louis Riel also chose the name, and it was accepted in Ottawa under the Manitoba Act of 1870 and it adjoins Hudson Bay to the northeast, and is the only prairie province to have a saltwater coastline. The Port of Churchill is Canadas only Arctic deep-water port and the shortest shipping route between North America and Asia, Lake Winnipeg is the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Hudson Bay is the worlds second-largest bay, Manitoba is at the heart of the giant Hudson Bay watershed, once known as Ruperts Land. It was a area of the Hudsons Bay Company, with many rivers. The province has a saltwater coastline bordering Hudson Bay and more than 110,000 lakes, Manitobas major lakes are Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipegosis, and Lake Winnipeg, the tenth-largest freshwater lake in the world. Some traditional Native lands and boreal forest on Lake Winnipegs east side are a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Manitoba is at the centre of the Hudson Bay drainage basin, with a volume of the water draining into Lake Winnipeg. This basins rivers reach far west to the mountains, far south into the United States, major watercourses include the Red, Assiniboine, Nelson, Winnipeg, Hayes, Whiteshell and Churchill rivers

136.
Papua New Guinea
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Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua, Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. There are 852 known languages in the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers, most of the population of more than 7 million people live in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its live in urban centres. The country is one of the worlds least explored, culturally and geographically and it is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted peoples, and researchers believe there are many undiscovered species of plants and animals in the interior. Papua New Guinea is classified as an economy by the International Monetary Fund. Strong growth in Papua New Guineas mining and resource sector led to the becoming the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011. Growth was expected to slow once major resource projects came on line in 2015, mining remains a major economic factor, however. Local and national governments are discussing the potential of resuming mining operations in Panguna mine in Bougainville Province, nearly 40 percent of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital. Most of the still live in strong traditional social groups based on farming. Their social lives combine traditional religion with modern practices, including primary education, at the national level, after being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea established its sovereignty in 1975. This followed nearly 60 years of Australian administration, which started during the Great War and it became an independent Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in its own right. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago and they were descendants of migrants out of Africa, in one of the early waves of human migration. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC, a major migration of Austronesian-speaking peoples to coastal regions of New Guinea took place around 500 BC. This has been correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, in the 18th century, traders brought the sweet potato to New Guinea, where it was adopted and became part of the staples. Portuguese traders had obtained it from South America and introduced it to the Moluccas, the far higher crop yields from sweet potato gardens radically transformed traditional agriculture and societies. Sweet potato largely supplanted the previous staple, taro, and resulted in a significant increase in population in the highlands. In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, missionary Harry Dauncey found 10,000 skulls in the islands Long Houses, traders from Southeast Asia had visited New Guinea beginning 5,000 years ago to collect bird of paradise plumes

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Kerepunu villagers, British New Guinea, 1885.
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Flag
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Lime container, late 19th or early 20th century. The container is decorated with wood carving of crocodile and bird. Punctuation is emphasised with a white paint. The central portion, hollow to hold the lime, is made of bamboo. The joints are covered with basketry work.
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Australian forces attack Japanese positions during the Battle of Buna–Gona. 7 January 1943.

137.
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
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The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was the Australian federal government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border. It facilitated the movement of international travellers and goods, whilst protecting the safety, security. At the time of its dissolution, the formed part of the Department of Immigration. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service employed over 5,800 people around Australia, the Service defined its role as follows, “Our role is complex and diverse and requires a very considered and increasingly targeted approach to conducting our business. The Service used an intelligence-led, risk-based approach to managing threats, Quarantine risk material could be referred to Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service officers. Goods arriving from overseas by post were cleared by Customs and AQIS officers before being released to Australia Post for delivery, Customs collected goods and services tax on taxable goods imported into Australia. To achieve these functions, the Service operated its own air and sea patrol unit, at the border, Service officers would check all passengers to ensure compliance with customs, immigration and quarantine requirements. The Services purpose was to people without correct documentation or visas from entering the country. One of the largest areas of work undertaken by the Service was in relation to the importation of narcotics and precursor substances and the smuggling of illegal amounts of tobacco. Examination techniques such as x-ray, trace detection technology and detector dogs were used to people, goods, mail, vessels. Australian law prohibits the importing of any material of an offensive or grotesque nature and this included material in electronic form such as CDs or DVDs, computer hard drives and within electronic games. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service had its origins in the Department of Trade and Customs, the organisation was restructured several times since, including becoming the Department of Customs and Excise in 1958 and then briefly the Department of Police and Customs in 1975. Later that same year, the Bureau of Customs was established, royal assent was given to the changes on 22 May 2009 and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was established. In 2015, the Australian Government announced changes to the Immigration, at this time, the Australian Border Force, a single frontline operational border agency, was established within the department. The Australian Border Force draws together the operational border, investigations, compliance, detention, policy, regulatory and corporate functions will combine within the broader department

138.
Royal Australian Navy
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The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the colonial navies were integrated into a national force. Originally intended for defence, the navy was granted the title of Royal Australian Navy in 1911. Britains Royal Navy continued to support the RAN and provided additional blue-water defence capability in the Pacific up to the years of World War II. Then, rapid expansion saw the acquisition of large surface vessels. In the decade following the war, the RAN acquired a number of aircraft carriers. Today, the RAN consists of 47 commissioned vessels,3 non-commissioned vessels, the current Chief of Navy is Vice Admiral Tim Barrett. The Commonwealth Naval Forces were established on 1 March 1901, two months after the federation of Australia, when the forces of the separate Australian colonies were amalgamated. As a result, the force structure was set at one battlecruiser. On 10 July 1911, King George V granted the service the title of Royal Australian Navy. The first of the RANs new vessels, the destroyer Yarra, was completed in September 1910, in this time the focus of Australias naval policy shifted from defence against invasion to trade protection, and several fleet units were sunk as targets or scrapped. By 1923, the size of the navy had fallen to eight vessels, following the outbreak of the Pacific War and the virtual destruction of British naval forces in south-east Asia, the RAN operated more independently, or as part of United States Navy formations. As the navy took on a greater role, it was expanded significantly and at its height the RAN was the fourth-largest navy in the world. A total of 34 vessels were lost during the war, including three cruisers and four destroyers, after the Second World War, the size of the RAN was again reduced, but it gained new capabilities with the acquisition of two aircraft carriers, Sydney and Melbourne. The RAN saw action in many Cold War–era conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region and operated alongside the Royal Navy and United States Navy off Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Since the end of the Cold War, the RAN has been part of Coalition forces in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, operating in support of Operation Slipper and it was also deployed in support of Australian peacekeeping operations in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. The strategic command structure of the RAN was overhauled during the New Generation Navy changes, the RAN is commanded through Naval Headquarters in Canberra. The professional head is the Chief of Navy, who holds the rank of Vice Admiral, NHQ is responsible for implementing policy decisions handed down from the Department of Defence and for overseeing tactical and operational issues that are the purview of the subordinate commands

139.
OCLC
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The Online Computer Library Center is a US-based nonprofit cooperative organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the worlds information and reducing information costs. It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services, the group first met on July 5,1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization. The group hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The goal of network and database was to bring libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the worlds information in order to best serve researchers and scholars. The first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26,1971 and this was the first occurrence of online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data, between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States. As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside of Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with networks, organizations that provided training, support, by 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on OCLC Members Council, in early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to anyone, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. org, in October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988, a browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013, it was replaced by the Classify Service. S. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users and this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. OCLC has produced cards for members since 1971 with its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, e. g. CONTENTdm for managing digital collections, OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications and these publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organizations website. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding

140.
New International Encyclopedia
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The New International Encyclopedia was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the International Cyclopaedia and was updated in 1906,1914 and 1926, the New International Encyclopedia was the successor of the International Cyclopaedia. Initially, the International Cyclopaedia was largely a reprint of Aldens Library of Universal Knowledge, the local Cyclopaedia was much improved by editors Harry Thurston Peck and Selim Peabody. The title was changed to New International Encyclopedia in 1902, with editors Harry Thurston Peck, Daniel Coit Gilman, in 1906 the New International Encyclopedia was expanded from 17 volumes to 20. The 2nd edition appeared in 1914 in 24 volumes, set up from new type and it was very strong in biography. The 1926 material was printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by The University Press, boston Bookbinding Company of Cambridge produced the covers. Thirteen books enclosing twenty-three volumes comprise the encyclopedia, which includes a supplement after Volume 23, each book contains about 1600 pages. A great deal of material is recorded in the New International Encyclopedia. An early description of Adolf Hitler and his activities from 1920 to 1924 is in the supplement to the 1926 edition, many of the names used to describe the scientific identities of plants and animals are now obsolete. Numerous colorful maps which display the nations, states, colonies, the maps are valuable for their depictions of national and colonial borders in Europe, Asia, and Africa at the time of World War I. Drawings, illustrations, and photographs are plentiful, more than 500 men, and some women, submitted and composed the information contained in the New International Encyclopedia. Editors of the First Edition Daniel Coit Gilman, LL. D, President of Johns Hopkins University, President of Carnegie Institution. Frank Moore Colby, M. A. formerly Professor in New York University, editors of the Second Edition Frank Moore Colby, M. A. Talcott Williams, LL. D. Director of the School of Journalism, Columbia University, media related to New International Encyclopedia at Wikimedia Commons 1914 second ed

New International Encyclopedia
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Marsupials

141.
Howstuffworks
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HowStuffWorks is an American commercial educational website founded by Marshall Brain to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain concepts, terminology, and mechanisms—including photographs, diagrams, videos, animations. A documentary television series with the name also premiered in November 2008 on the Discovery Channel. In 1998, North Carolina State University professor Marshall Brain started the site as a hobby, in 1999, Brain raised venture capital and formed HowStuffWorks, Inc. In March 2002, HowStuffWorks was sold to the Convex Group, the headquarters moved from Cary, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia. HowStuffWorks originally focused on science and machines, ranging from submarines to common household gadgets, after adding a staff of writers, artists, and editors, content expanded to a larger array of topics. In November 2004, HowStuffWorks moved its entertainment section to Stuffo, however, in 2006, the team disbanded and the site now redirects visitors to the sites entertainment channel. The domain HowStuffWorks. com attracted at least 58 million visitors annually by 2008, HowStuffWorks puts out an educational magazine called HowStuffWorks Express for middle school students. The company has released a series of HowStuffWorks trivia LidRock discs – CD-ROMs sold on fountain drink lids at Regal Theaters. Howstuffworks recently acquired Mobil Travel Guide and Consumer Guide, howstuffworks. com spun off its international division when they went public via an acquisition of INTAC, a China-based company. In March 2007, HSW International launched its Portuguese website with headquarters in São Paulo, the Portuguese term for the site is Como Tudo Funciona, which means how everything works. In June 2008, the Chinese site was launched with new headquarters placed in Beijing, the URL roughly translates to Knowledge Information Web. On October 15,2007, Discovery Communications announced it had bought HowStuffWorks for US$250 million, the company later chose to use the name HowStuffWorks as the title of a television series on its Discovery Channel. The series, which focuses on commodities, premiered in November 2008 and is similar in style, other co-founders in Sharecare include Jeff Arnold, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Harpo Productions, Discovery Communications and Sony Pictures Television. On April 21,2014, Discovery Communications announced that they had sold HowStuffWorks to Blucora for $45 million, later in the year, HowStuffWorks moved its headquarters from Buckhead to Ponce City Market, a new mixed-use development in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta. HowStuffWorks maintains several podcasts, hosted by its writers and editors. Stuff You Should Know, is an audio podcast and video series on topics from all fields of interest, co-hosted by senior staff writers Josh Clark. In older episodes, editors Candace Keener and Chris Pollette co-hosted with Clark before Bryant became the permanent co-host, the podcast falls under the category of Society and Culture

Howstuffworks
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HowStuffWorks, Inc.

142.
Dateline NBC
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Dateline NBC, or simply Dateline, is a weekly American television newsmagazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the networks flagship news magazine, but now mainly on true crime stories with only occasional editions that focus on other topics. Two-hour feature-length editions sometimes air on any given scheduled evening, often to fill holes in the schedule on the programs respective nights due to program cancellations. Dateline is historically notable for its longevity on the network, the program debuted on March 31,1992, initially airing only on Tuesdays, with Stone Phillips and Jane Pauley serving as its co-anchors. Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric joined the program when the previously separate newsmagazine Now with Tom Brokaw, gradually, the program expanded with the addition of a third night in 1994 and a fourth night in 1997, peaking at five nights of airings each week in mid-1999 and 2000. Editions first began to be removed in the spring of 2001, Dateline was the first multi-night franchise that established brand power by stripping editions, a strategy by NBCs entertainment division to place the program in the same time slot every week. It was considered to be a singular program rather than multiple weekly programs, in its prime, from 1995 to 1999, Dateline provided significant breaking news coverage. The program featured sensationalized news stories and drew in viewers with stories aired in multiple installments, by 1999, any one individual Dateline edition placed in Nielsens top 10 most-watched television programs among total viewers during most weeks. NBC capitalized on its relationship with CNBC and MSNBC by airing repackaged stories seen on past Dateline broadcasts on the retrospective series Headliners and Legends and Time, the program first originated from NBC Studio 3K, using the same set that was used at the time for NBC Nightly News. When Today moved to its current facility, NBC Studio 1A, in 1994, Dateline took over Studio 3B and received its own brand-new dedicated set. Past contributing anchors were Bryant Gumbel, who left NBC in 1997, Maria Shriver, who left NBC in 2004, and Katie Couric, on June 24,2005, Ann Curry co-anchored Dateline for the first time and became permanent host shortly thereafter. Dateline began broadcasting in high definition for the first time on July 21,2008, Dateline previously shared the multi-level Studio 1A with Today. However, in 2013, the program moved back to Studio 3K, lester Holt replaced Ann Curry as host of Dateline with the start of the 20th season on September 23,2011, shortly after Curry became permanent co-host of Today. The program did not disclose the fact that the accident was staged, acting on a tip from someone involved with the Dateline crash test, investigators with FaAA searched through 22 junkyards in Indiana before finding the charred wreckage of the GM pickups. It was also revealed that the Dateline report had been dishonest about the fuel tanks rupturing. GM subsequently filed a lawsuit against NBC after conducting an extensive investigation. The General Motors lawsuit and the subsequent settlement were arguably the most devastating blows for NBC in a series of reputation damaging incidents during the 1990s, within NBC, Michael Gartner, who resigned under pressure shortly after the incident, was the source for much of the blame. Michele Gillen, the correspondent involved in the segment, was transferred to NBCs Miami owned-and-operated station WTVJ, in August 2007, Dateline reporter Michelle Madigan attempted to secretly record hackers admitting to crimes at that years DEF CON in Las Vegas, Nevada